Toaru Rinji no Nin
by Luxraye
Summary: This happens before Accelerator leaves for Russia. He's currently living with Last Order, Yomikawa, and Yoshikawa. All are surprised when Ryuuzaki Rei, a Lvl 4 Vector Change ESPer, wishes Accelerator's tutelage. Who is she really? Her background is so contradictory, there's no way Rei is who she says. Who has the answers to who Rei is? She certainly doesn't... does she?
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1:

The chilling December air drifted into the convenience store. Sneakily, it pushed the warm air surrounding the cashier away, pricking his cheek as if to announce that the door had been open. The cashier jerked his right arm- the arm closer to the automatic door- ever so slightly.

_Clack, tap, clack, tap_. A sturdy white cane appeared from the door's other side. Right after the can came the body: tall, almost lanky, thin light blue jeans, punk long-sleeved shirt. The regular had come back for his usual needs. Another person followed him: a small, young girl with a bouncy gait and decently thick pink and yellow winter coat.

Accelerator wanted to sigh. He couldn't. He was too close to the cashier.

_I am Accelerator._

_ I am the strongest ESPer in Academy City._

_ People feared me. My simple touch could kill._

_ I am shopping for soft drinks. With a cane._

_ The hell._

As he limbered to the soda drink section, he heard Last Order scamper to the manga section. Her shoes clacked on the floor rapidly, contrasting with Accelerator's steady pace.

He sighed once he was out of the shoppers' and cashier's earshot. He squatted down on his knees and began to look at the cans absent-mindly. There was no one around him, as if no one needed a carbonated beverage right then.

_Heh. By now they should be used to my presence. Who cares so much about someone they barely even know? _He remembered the time when he first came there with his cane and neck collar. Even though he had been a regular long before Amai shot him, he snickered in his mind when he saw the cashier brief expression of shock. The customers discreetly shuffled a few steps back when he walked passed, Last Order being the only one by his side. They all seemed, for a brief moment, shocked or scared or even gleeful, before turning to their apathetic selves. He remembered paying for the seven soda cans he got that day. He remembered the cashier extremely well. The brief moment of hesitation before the cashier took a can told Accelerator all he needed to know. He was still fearsome; in fact, people might fear him more now.

_ "Doesn't it bother you? Misaka Misaka questions Accelerator with gentle concern."_

_ "What bothers me?" All Accelerator could remember of this moment was that he was outside with the summer wind blowing him forward in the night._

_ "Misaka Misaka noticed the cashier's and the shoppers' reactions, Misaka Misaka states from observation. They're happy that you're hurt. They're scared that you're hurt. They hate you even more now that you're hurt, Misaka Misaka uses parallel structure to explain her observations."_

_ "Like hell I care for those bastards."_

_ "Misaka Misaka knows that's not true! Misaka Misaka cries out loud! Misaka Misaka knows you're hiding it."_

_ "It seems like I'm hiding my feelings, but that's because I have none."_

_ "…"_

"_I'm an emotionally ravaged cripple. A terrible kind of person to talk to. Getting shot in the skull might have been good after all."_

Accelerator slowly reached out for distinctly colored cans, not caring for their brand. He used his free arm to hug a few of the cans and went to the cashier register.

人

Accelerator's crimson-blood red eyes and his shock of snow-white hair stood out in the darkening town. Night was approaching.

He steadily walked on forward, ignoring Last Order's humming and skipping behind him. He had let her buy a _LaLa_ magazine that she had found.

"Ne, Accelerator-san, are you okay? Misaka Misaka asks in concern." She said behind him, her cheeriness present in her breath.

The memory of the past conversation flashed again inside Accelerator.

"Of course. What is there to not be okay about?" He responded back, taking slight care in not repeating the past.

"For a long time Misaka Misaka noticed their looks and feelings and actions, Misaka Misaka states. Misaka Misaka is telling Accelerator-san now because Misaka Misaka wasn't sure if it was happening."

_Does she not even remember what she said five months ago?_ "I don't give a care for them. You don't need to care about them for me. It's useless. Worrying about those wimps won't do you- or me- any good." He wanted to shut her down. This topic was useless. He just wanted to think by himself.

_When I was little, I had a real name._

"Accelerator-san should care for other people, Misaka Misaka urges! Other people care for you! Misaka Misaka declares!"

Accelerator snickered. "Like hell they do."

The street was beginning to show more houses than stores. Silver grey lampposts, separated from each other by a standardized distance, flickered on. Accelerator took a left, entering the park close to his apartment.

"Misaka Misaka is sure that there's more people out there other than herself, Yomikawa-san, and Yoshikawa-san! Misaka Misaka states, beginning to get angry!" Accelerator heard her breath getting huffier and more urgent-sounding. It was as if Last Order was trying to shake him awake from his dreams, his thoughts, the world he formed by himself with him as its only inhabitant. "Even if there's only one other person out there, we three are not the only ones that will support you! That certain special person exists! And Accelerator-san, you HAVE to acknowledge this fact! Misaka Misaka shouts out with certainty!" He heard her stamp her shoe on the park's cobblestone walkway.

He stopped walking and turned his head around to meet her angry-yet-scared-at-getting-punished face.

"I can't acknowledge the existence of an imaginary person." His breathed the words as gently as the wind caressed his hair.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2:

Last Order fumed to herself in silence, noticeably stomping. She was slightly put off by Accelerator. Now that her source of entertainment for the trip back had silenced himself, she went back to her original hobby: analyzing the surroundings. Her eyes moved around slowly and curiously at the park's flora.

_The lampposts aren't giving enough light for Misaka Misaka to analyze the bushes and trees properly…Awww…Misaka Misaka thinks to herself in sadness._

She didn't bother walking in front of Accelerator to see the similar plants in front of her. It just didn't seem right at this time.

_Misaka Misaka calculates it'll take about 10 more minutes to get back into the apartment…Awww…what will Misaka Misaka do until then?_

The impending boredom caused whatever thoughts that were in her head to evaporate.

It was only then that she noticed the gradual heaviness of a feeling in her mind.

_An AIM field, Misaka Misaka notes._

Now, it wasn't abnormal for her to sense AIM dispersion fields of other people, considering that she lived in Academy City. But there were few times she was only in the presence of Accelerator's. Or no one's.

_This steady increase in AIM field strength means that…huh? Misaka Misaka becomes confused at the data._

"Accelerator, Misaka Misaka tries to get his attention." She finally spoke. The straight cobblestone path lead them through a boulevard of trees lightly swaying in the wind. It chilled her, but what she calculated seemed even more chilling. She could feel the position of the field; the AIM field's source was at the next right bend. It was only a few paces away.

"…What?" Accelerator finally spoke.

"There's a stronger ESPer nearby, Misaka Misaka states. The person seems to be a Level 5, Misaka Misaka predicts in a concerned tone."

Accelerator said nothing to her, but Last Order sensed concern. He appeared to be scratching his neck.

_The switch, Misaka Misaka remembers. Accelerator is actually listening to Misaka Misaka._

As the two arrived at the bend, Accelerator stood still, his right hand in a jeans pocket, his left hand carrying the bag of drinks.

The silver can caught the light of the lamppost across from Accelerator, briefly blinding Last Order.

と あ る 臨 時 の 人

Last Order blinked repeatedly. She stepped to the left in order to see the assailant and Accelerator's actions.

_Misaka Misaka heard a sickening crunch._

Accelerator's right hand was holding a crumbled piece of silver metal. He was glaring steadily at the bush near the lamppost. But there was still no one near the bush.

_He didn't even need his "Vector Change" ability, Misaka Misaka notes._

"Whoever the hell you are, come out." Accelerator said, sounding surprisingly menacing and bored at the same time.

Last Order was beginning to see a head of brown hair slowly appear from the bush.

"Aww, it didn't work correctly. I'm sorry." A face popped out. The young, pale, and female face had long brown hair, a slight frown, and sad chocolate brown eyes.

_I feel like I've seen her somewhere before, Misaka Misaka tries to recall._

"Ah, where are my manners? I apologized before I even greeted you!" The girl bowed hurriedly. She was wearing traditional blue skinny jeans and a white chiffon, high collared shirt. Brass-like circular buttons were lined vertically in the middle of her shirt, reminding Last Order of a Chinese-style shirt.

"I'd say your manners flew out when you threw a can at a stranger. Do I even know you, brat?" Accelerator said, opening his right palm. The crumpled metal made a hollow sound as it hit the ground.

_Did the can lose mass somehow? Misaka Misaka questions._

"Well, yes, I guess…But I wasn't intending for THAT to happen." Only Last Order could hear her mumbling the next part: "I was hoping for the wind. Or, you know, you deflecting it back…"

"Oh yeah? What else then? Just get lost, I don't have time." Accelerator growled, but he stayed put.

The girl looked up at him after she took a deep breath, which Last Order only noticed as well. Her gaze was surprisingly steady.

_For such a person, she doesn't seem to fear Accelerator, Misaka Misaka observes. Misaka Misaka is surprised._

"I…I am Ryuuzaki Rei. I am a Level 4 ESPer. I have the same ability as you, 'Vector Change', and I really, really need your help."


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3:

"EHH? MISAKA MISAKA EXCLAIMS! HOW'S THAT POSSIBLE?" Last Order was the first of the two to say something.

"…" Accelerator didn't say anything. His right hand was back into his pocket again. He was glaring down at her. Rei's height reached his shoulder. She looked up at him.

_She's not moving a muscle, Misaka Misaka wonders with amazement. She's less than three yards away from him, Misaka Misaka estimates, and she's not moving._

Rei gazed at Last Order. There was something eerie about her gaze. Her face seemed so calm, so emotionless and somber. Yet the face gave the air of politeness. But she wasn't _entirely _polite. After all, she had just thrown a can at someone's face.

_She does seem like she needs help of some sort, Misaka Misaka develops her opinion. But Misaka Misaka still can't remember why Ryuuzaki-san looks so familiar…_

"Ah, I'm sorry for being so abrupt. You must be Last Order-chan, right?" She began to walk towards Last Order. "I can't tell you why I have the ability I have. But-"

Accelerator pushed her back hard, making her _thud _against the ground. Last Order noticed her wince, one of her eyes closed in pain. _But Ryuuzaki-san isn't saying anything…? Misaka Misaka notices. Just what is her purpose, Misaka Misaka wants to know!_

He switched the hand that carried the bag and raised his left arm protectively for Last Order. "You have some nerve. You fucking come out of nowhere and _throw_ a goddamn _can_ at my face, and you're asking me for help? _And you think you can approach this brat as if you're just some casual friend?_"

Rei stopped looking hurt, avoided his gaze, and looked up at him with her calm expression. "Even if my plan at getting your attention hadn't failed, you still would have most likely refused to help me. Now you think of me as a random person that had the guts to throw something at you instead of a just a random person to ignore."

Last Order looked stunned, her mouth agape. No one talked back to Accelerator. Or, at least, no one that escaped without a scratch. _Misaka Misaka thinks that Accelerator-san will see her as a foolish, random person that threw a can…_

Accelerator sighed and bent his knees to be more level with her wide-eyed face. He snickered as he scanned her face, her mouth slightly open as if she was afraid at what he'd do. "Now, listen, I'm not a fan of hurting girls. Especially those that have the great potential for sarcasm and wit. But, if you'll continue to be a nuisance…ah, let's say you'll need more help from more people, okay?"

"WAIT! DON'T HURT HER! MISAKA MISAKA CRIES!" Last Order snapped out of her shock and ran to Accelerator's side. "Misaka Misaka remembers Ryuuzaki-san saying she was a Level 4. Misaka Misaka sensed an AIM field of a Level 5…"

Rei weakly smiled at her. "That's what I was going to explain, but…" She quickly met Accelerator's gaze before going back to her. "I am a Level 4. I am not lying to you." She took out her ID card and flashed it at Last Order and then Accelerator. It was a legitimate card, a big red 4 right below her name, "RYUUZAKI REI". The level section was right above the ability section, which was written in bold, black letters: ABILITY: VECTOR CHANGE. The picture on the right hand side looked just like her- the shirt, the faint, sweet smile, all of that. She put the card back. "I am always so close to achieving Level 5 status at my school examinations. But I always never make it! I am always sooo close!" She stopped leaning on her right side and showed Last Order how close with her pointer finger and thumb; the two fingers were basically touching each other.

"…" Last Order said nothing. Accelerator barely narrowed his glance, but he did all the same.

Rei snapped her glance at Accelerator. Newfound urgency was in her gaze now. "You're a level 5! I request your teachings." She winced as she shifted into a bow at Accelerator's knee. Her head was touching the ground, her long brown hair curled at the end and touched the ground as well.

"Wha-What…Misaka Misaka says in surprise. Misaka Misaka's calculations were wrong…?" Last Order dropped to her knees in absolute shock.

"Now, now. Wait just a minute." Accelerator's tone didn't soften at all at Rei's plight. "This brat's data is never wrong."

"I'm sorry, but it is. You may see my card again, if you wish. But my card is legitimate." Rei said softly, not moving her head from the ground. She handed it to him, not looking up.

Last Order noticed Accelerator scrutinizes it. Accelerator sharply exhaled and put it on her right hand. He looked away in irritancy.

人

_Who the hell is she? _Accelerator could only think of that question. When he was part of the Radio Noise experiment, he scoured the scientists' databases when given the opportunity.

There. Was. Not. A. Single. Person. With. His. Ability.

_There shouldn't be! _He narrowed his eyes. He exhaled, not realizing he was holding in so much of his breath. He put it on her hand and glared at her.

…_She's an interesting person. An odd mix of rudeness and politeness, I have to say. But why the hell do I not know her? Who is she? _He couldn't come up with an answer to his question. He was starting to feel more insane than usual. _Let me take a slight gamble today…_

"I'll _consider_ it, okay brat? Walk with me and we'll see if I change my mind." He stood up, already walking away.

Last Order still started at Rei. Rei popper her head up and put her hands on her knees, still on the ground.

"Really?" She said excitedly. "Thank you!" She didn't even care that Accelerator had already tuned all sound waves out. "And I'm sorry about the can! I was supposed to use my ability on it!" She stood up and ran towards him.

Last Order looked puzzled now. "Misaka Misaka is wondering what just happened…." She murmured before racing off after the new person.


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: I eventually got lazy and started writing "Yoshikawa" and "Yomikawa" as "Yoshi" and "Yomi" respectively. There's also one point where you'll think I'm missing a quotation mark, but it's supposed to be like that. *Sigh* I'm back to posting close to midnight. Some things never change. I'll add the "Thanks" page back later.

Chapter 4:

The mahogany door opened without warning. Yomikawa was past caring, though. She had nagged Accelerator countless times by then; of course, none of her attempts worked. So, she just gave up and started mastering Yoshikawa's technique of listening to the lock tumbler in the door.

"We're home! Misaka Misaka jumps into the apartment! There is a guest today, Misaka Misaka declares!" Misaka marched into the room and held out her arms wide. Yoshikawa turned from the stove and looked curiously at her. When the door opened wider, she looked to Accelerator. There didn't seem to be anyone else accompanying them.

Yomikawa looked up from her magazine and got off of the light blue armchair. She lightly tossed the magazine on the armchair. "Welcome back, jan!" She said cheerfully, picking up Last Order. She spun around in circles, and Last Order giggled delightfully.

When Yomikawa and Yoshikawa started living with Accelerator, the two were set to renovate Accelerator's apartment _completely _from the destroyed drab it once was. Besides several cleanups, new floorings, and coats of paint, new furniture was brought in. Yoshikawa brought in her oval glass coffee table. It surely seemed expensive. The glass oval had black wooden siding to protect the sides of the top glass. The classy black wood then went downwards as four legs. A few inches below the top glass was a second shelving of glass. It didn't matter, though. Yoshikawa preferred nothing on the table; drinks were allowed when necessary and were required to be put back into the kitchen later. Yomikawa brought her matching three-piece sofa set: an armchair, a loveseat, and a three-person sofa.

"Umm…" A mousy mouse sounded behind Accelerator. Accelerator showed no emotion. The usual. Yoshi turned back from the stove and Yomi stopped spinning Last Order. The three looked curiously at Acclerator. Specifically, the voice behind him.

Rei peeked in from behind Accelerator, only giving Yomi and Yoshi a glimpse of her face.

"Ah, are you the guest?" Yoshi inquired, sounding neither welcoming nor unwelcoming. Accelerator and Yomi knew her ways. She had a soft voice. Unless a person knew Yoshi well, it was hard to crack her neutral surface. It set people on edge. It once set Yomi on edge before she became close friends with Yoshi.

"Pardon the intrusion. My name is Ryuuzaki Rei. Pleasure to meet you two." Rei said. Once Accelerator moved away, she bowed.

Accelerator took of his shoes and walked straight. He took a left and opened a door: he had to go to the bathroom. It was as if he didn't want to explain anything about Rei.

"The pleasure is ours." Yoshi answer softly, turning back to the stove to stir a pot.

"You are…?" Yomi trailed off. It was understandable. It was hard to word her question without sounding rude. _Why are you here?_

"I am a Level 4 ESPer that goes to Toshiko Academy."

"Ah, a prominent school." Yoshi said, not turning towards her.

"I have requested Accelerator's help in teaching me his ability, as I wish to obtain Level 5 status." Rei finished formally, her eyes not wavering from Yomikawa.

"Eh? You requested Accelerator's help…?" Yomi echoed, startled. "Ah, I see! Well, stay for dinner!" She got a hold of herself.

"Yes. Please stay." Yoshi's voice betrayed no surprise. She didn't even turn around to look at her as she bent down and searched the fridge. "It's a long way to the Toshiko dorms, isn't it? We have a guest bedroom. You should stay overnight. It's too risky for you to go back home now, even for a Level 4 ESPer from Toshiko such as yourself."

"Oh…I could? I wouldn't be imposing?" Rei saw the logic in their words and didn't bother refusing.

"Not at all! I'm sure we have an extra toothbrush somewhere! And I'm sure either-Ah! We haven't introduced ourselves! So sorry, jan!" Yomi said. Looking sheepish, she scratched her hair. "I am Yomikawa Aiho."

"I am Yoshikawa Kikyou. Nice to meet you. Please sit somewhere at the table. I'll be serving dinner soon."

"If you insist, I accept…" Rei responded back politely. She didn't sit at either end of the table (she didn't know which side they considered the "head") - that would be arrogant of her to do so. She sat near the huge window. It was the furthest from the door, and it was covered with white panel blinds. Everything in the area, Rei noticed, seemed to be white. The wall didn't _entirely_ have the same color as the table though, she observed.

Accelerator paced out and walked straight past the kitchen and living room. He walked to the kitchen, which was straight ahead. He placed his bag on the bar-siding his kitchen acquired. "So, what's for dinner?" He plopped straight into one of the white, wooden chairs. Last Order came over and sat next to him and directly across from Rei. Last Order had announced Rei's arrival, but even then she was a bit nervous of her. Even though the apartment had gotten a bar-siding (which Accelerator preferred to eat on) and three bar-stools for it, Yomikawa suggested that they all eat dinner together at an actual dining table.

"_So it seems that we are a family, jan! We should eat together at least once every day!"_ If Yomikawa hadn't gained Yoshikawa's approval, Accelerator would be more than happy to eat anywhere else _but_ the table.

The pure white table was able to seat 6 people. _"What if we have guests, jan? We can't get a 4-piece." Yomi said while they shopped at a furniture store._

"_But the 6-piece costs more money…" Yoshi noticed, eyeing the price tag._

"_It's okay! This is coming out of Accelerator's pocket anyway!" Yomi said cheerfully._

"_Eh? I never agreed to any of this…"_

"_Acclerator-san, while you're at, could you please buy me that edition of LaLa, Misaka Misaka asks politely?"_

"…"

"_Oh, come on Accelerator. Aiho and I think your quality of life will be so much better with a less-trashy apartment. One way to make it less trashy is to get an actual table." Yoshi argued reasonably. Needless to say, Accelerator lost that fight that day, three to one._

"We wanted to clear out what we had before we go back to the supermarket." Yoshi answered.

"So we're having some of that surplus instant ramen we found in the cabinet-" Yomi put Last Order on the loveseat and went back to her magazine. She crossed her legs and supported her chin with her right hand, flipping through the pictures of models in an unfocused fashion.

"Great-" Accelerator began. Even though Yoshi and Yomi (and even Last Order at times) had (for the most part) weaned him off of junk food, he still preferred it over everything else.

"So I cooked it with only a _pinch_ of tastemaker and added some of those frozen stir-fry vegetables I got the other day. Delicious!" Yoshi said, happy to make even the most instant of meals healthy.

"…" Accelerator wasn't expecting that.

"Dinner time!" Yoshi called out. Yomi put her magazine on a side table and went to the table. The side table was similar to Yoshi's coffee table. There was an identical one fit in the space between the loveseat and sofa on the other side.

Yoshi came with a big bowl filled with noodles and vegetables. The plates and spoons and forks had already been set. She placed the bowl in the center as Yomi came and sat at what Rei thought was the head of the table- the furthest seat form the window. She walked back into the kitchen to get glasses for everyone and set a metal pitcher of water at the table. "Is there anything- as in drink- that you'd like?" She looked to Rei. Rei silently shook her head.

"Well then," Yoshi smiled a little and sat next to Rei. "Let's eat."

"Itadakimasu!" Accelerator was the only one that mumbled.

人

As Rei was brushing her teeth in one of the two bathrooms, Accelerator went to the fridge. Last Order had fallen asleep in Accelerator's room.

"Did she fall asleep in my bed again?" Accelerator asked Yoshi as he fumbled around in the fridge.

Yomi shrugged, answering instead. "I think it's pretty cute, jan."

But _tch_. Do you _have_ to drink something right now, jan?" Yomi scolded him. She went into the kitchen and leaned against the fridge's open door.

"She's right. You're so unhealt-" Yoshi came up behind Accelerator as he lifted up a can of green tea and shook it. It was as if he was saying, _Hey, green tea is healthy, right? Right. _He closed the door and stood up.

"Oi, is she really here for what she says she is, jan?" Yomi hissed. "You're going to teacher her?" Yoshi nodded. She allowed her face to look slightly confused.

"I _kinda_ did say that." Accelerator said between gulps.

"She has your ability? I didn't know another person like that existed." Yoshi frowned as if she tried to remember her databases. "Surely the scientists would have known…"

"I didn't know either. But she claims to have it. I've seen her ID card. It's legitimate as well." He interject the last two sentences, seeing that Yomi would have said something otherwise.

"This is a really…peculiar situation." Yoshi said. No one said anything.

"Hey…are you really going to help her as you say?" Yomi asked. She looked concerned, her brows furrowed. "She _seems_ like a nice kid."

"I believe if Accelerator _hadn't_ given his word, she wouldn't have followed him here. At the very least, she would have been injured in some way." Yoshi reasoned, her right hand curved around her chin in thought.

"You're going to help her, right?" Yomi was still not convinced.

Accelerator was just holding his now-finished can. His silence was his answer.


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: Anime conventions are very tiring.

Chapter 5:

Accelerator's apartment had three bedrooms. One belonged to him, the other was shared between Yoshi and Yomi, and the third was a guest bedroom. Sometimes, the apartment boarders would go into the guest room for the night. Last Order was very unpredictable with where she slept; she was so tired this night that she just fell on Accelerator's bed. Accelerator, surprisingly, did not complain. Rei saw him gently nudge her from the middle of his bed to one pillow and he just moved in. He crossed his arms and put them below his head. He looked up to the ceiling, wide awake.

Rei was surprised at how neat the apartment and its layout was. _I'm sure Yomikawa-sensei and Yoshikawa-sensei are the sources of this_, she thought as she opened the door of the bathroom, fully dressed in a soft, pink cotton pj set.

_"It's a tad loose," Yomikawa told her, "but you still look awfully comfortable in it."_

_ "I am," Rei smiled, "Thank you!" She moved her hands, the sleeves covering up her hands._

Rei had just come out of the second bathroom. It was not the one Accelerator had went in to; that was just a powder room on the other side of the apartment. The powder room was across from a closet and that was it on the side closest to the kitchen. There was a hallway in between the dining table and the living room. There were two doors on each side of that hallway. The two on the side with the dining table were Accelerator's and Yomikawa's with Yoshikawa's rooms respectively. The full bathroom and guest bedroom were on the other side.

Rei neared the door across from her. She looked straight at Accelerator, hoping to get his attention. She didn't have to. As soon as she reached the doorway, Accelerator shifted his cold gaze from the ceiling to her. He said nothing, but waited for her to say something.

"Good night…" Rei whispered delicately. She slowly closed his door, still looking at him.

Rei only moved the door a couple inches before Accelerator sharply said, "Leave the door open." He didn't say good night back. He didn't say anything about teaching her tomorrow. Just, "Leave the door open." Rei didn't know whether it was a bad thing or a good thing. She left the door as it was and walked to her room without a word.

人

Rei was always fond of dreams. They were always unpredictable, each a little world. And, even though she never wanted some to come true, she relished in the fact that she could lucid dream at times.

Currently, Rei was on a beach. It was one of those white-sand beaches she had seen in books and on television. She was looking out into a light-blue sea. The wind rustled the palm tree leaves and tousled her hair. _This is just like that brochure I once read, she thought_, becoming lucid instantly, _what a dream this is_.

She was wearing a pair of pink shorts (which suspiciously reminded Rei of her PJs) and a matching solid pink shirt. She rested her chin on her knees. As she wrapped her arms around her knees, she heard the rustle of clothing behind her. She didn't look away from the brochure view.

"Lovely, isn't it?" The voice sounded familiar to Rei. _Is that…me? _Rei turned her neck. _Ah! She's been in a couple of my dreams before! I thought they were over..._

She locked gazes with a girl, who was the spitting image of her, snickering at her with her arms crossed. She was wearing an elaborate black Victorian dress. Her chocolate eyes seemed darker, as if she was mocking Rei.

Rei opened her mouth and took a breath. The dress was beautiful. She wished she had it in real life. White frills were layered at the sleeves and near the hem and collar. The collar was rectangular and somewhat of a low neckline; Rei was wearing a layer of black underneath the high-collared dress. And was Rei seeing black gloves? _She isn't literally hot here? Then again, it is a dream…_

"…What is?" Rei finally asked. She knew she was late; the other Rei seemed to reflect her pleasure in Rei getting stunned.

"Oh, everything. The view. My dress. You. _Your current situation_. Everything's working out for you, huh?"

"…?" Rei didn't know what to say to that. She stood up and faced the other Rei.

Rei suddenly drifted out of her lucid state. "What's your name?" She asked, as if she was controlled by some narration.

"Rei."

"But I'm Rei."

"So am I."

"You're Pink Rei."

Rei flushed at her short shorts and pink shirt.

"See? Even your cheeks are a light pink." The other Rei taunted.

"Black Rei. No, Dark Rei." Rei answered bluntly. "I say it fits you."

Dark Rei grinned. "Sure. Why not. That's not what matters right now, anyway." She lifted her left hand and patted Rei's right shoulder. Chills were immediately sent down Rei's spin. Her back suddenly seemed very pained, and the world dissolved into a greyish-black fog.

Rei sharply exhaled. Even though her eyes were closed, she knew she had returned back from the land of dreams.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6:

Rei woke up to the sound of something sizzling. _Ching!_ A toaster was done toasting something.

_Ah! I'm the last one awake!_ Rei assumed, sitting up in bed. _Great, I've made the wrong impression. _It didn't take long for her to notice that something was there in the corner of her peripheral vision.

She turned her head to find Last Order staring at her. Rei noticed that Last Order was barely taller than the mattress. _Ah!_ Rei thought that she reacted late to Last Order's presence. She tried to pull the curled-up parts of her hair down.

"Ryuuzaki-san, Misaka Misaka whispers," Last Order had an innocent look on her face. The look relaxed Rei; Last Order didn't appear to hold any grudges for last night's miscalculation. "Accelerator is still asleep, Misaka Misaka reports. Misaka Misaka requests Rei to finish her breakfast quickly so Rei and Misaka Misaka can wake Accelerator up."

Rei smirked at the thought of a prank. She didn't even bother noticing that Last Order kept dropping and picking up the –san honorific after Accelerator's name. "Ok," she said, throwing her blanket off of her.

人

"Good morning, Ryuuzaki-san!" Yoshikawa turned to her as she was sitting on the sofa with a turquoise mug of steaming coffee. The TV was on, its volume a light-but audible- murmur. A female newscaster was on for one moment and a weather man the next. "I took it you slept well?"

Rei nodded once. "I'm sorry for oversleeping." She told her. She eyed the mug hungrily. Even though she had never drank coffee, her lateness that day was getting to her.

"It's no problem. Accelerator hasn't even woken up yet. And besides, Toshiko students have to work very hard just for school. All the tiredness was bound to catch up to you." Yoshikawa calmly took a small sip from her mug.

"Mm." Yomikawa said in agreement. Rei noticed that she took two pieces of toast from the toaster as she was frying bacon in a pan. "I'll make you some toast and bacon. Maybe some eggs if we still have some."

"Thank you, Yomikawa-sensei." Rei said politely as she sat at the dining table. She sat in the same place as she did yesterday. The familiarity of that one spot was somewhat calming in this new enviorment.

_I usually cook for myself…_

"Ahah!" Yomikawa announced. "We DO have eggs, jan! 4 to be exact. Yoshi, do go get some later today-"

"I will do no such thing." Yoshikawa asserted softly.

"Of course you will! Ryuuzaki-san, prepared to have your tastebuds wowed! I can make one mean omelet. My colleagues in college and friends in high school called me the 'Egg Pro'!"

"That isn't exactly a good thing, Ryuuzaki-san." Yoshikawa said again, taking a louder sip of coffee this time. "And I'll go to the grocery store if there's time. I have other errands."

Yomikawa carried two plates of bacon, buttered toast, and eggs. She sat at the head of the table again. "Oh, wait, I forgot the drinks. What would you like?" She looked at Rei.

"Umm….Orange juice, please?"

"Sure, we have that." She went back into the kitchen and took out a carton of juice. She poured some into a glass and walked back to Rei, carrying a glass of water for herself.

"Itadakimasu."

Rei took a bite of the omelet first. It was certainly good-looking, embedded with colorful foodstuffs such as onions. "It's delicious." Rei closed her eyes in wonder. She was flattered that someone went to lengths to cook such good food for her.

"Do you normally eat out? Being a student and all…" Yomikawa asked between bites of her toast.

"Either that or I cook for myself."

"Don't you have a dormmate?" Yomikawa asked, sounding somewhat concerned.

"I do, but we usually don't wake up at the same time. Our schedules aren't synchronized."

"That's a shame. Kids should get home cooked meals. You're already having to make your own food-"

"Or go out and buy some-" Yoshikawa interjected again

"And you're not even in college yet!" Yomikawa batted her free right hand around. "Eating habits are supposed to deteriorate then, not before that time!"

Yoshi turned and looked at Rei. "Actually, they're not supposed to deteriorate _at all_."

"It's a rite of passage! What are you on, Yoshi!" Yomikawa turned, her arm resting on the chair. "Tough Anti-Skill workers are born like that!"

Yoshi smiled slightly. "That depends on what your definition of 'tough' is."

Yomi turned back around and sighed.

"I win," Yoshi said with some cheekiness.

Yomi went back to her food. "Rei, take your pick. You can either go out with Accelerator and Last Order to eat, or you can come back after your practice for food here. _Yoshi will be more than happy to cook you that healthy, home-cooked meal._"

"Touche." Yoshi sipped on her coffee some more.

"Uh…Whatever works for you guys. I certainly don't want you guys to spend more money, though…"

"Eh, Accelerator has money to blow. That's not the problem." Yomi batted her hand again.

"Oh. He has a job? Am I intruding?" Rei asked, alarmed. _I hadn't thought much of him having other things to do._

"No, the lazy bum. He's so lazy, jan! He just has a lot of money."

"And besides, we live with him. Money's not really an issue in our state." Yoshi answered, putting the empty mug on the table. She leaned back and watched the television.

Rei didn't want to press any further.

"Thanks for the food!" She finished, getting up to put her plate and glass in the sink. She washed her mouth.

"Pssttt…Misaka Misaka whispers as she tugs on Ryuuzaki-san's borrowed jeans." Rei could feel a slight tug on her left jean hem.

Rei grinned.

人

"He sleeps like a log." Rei noted as she peered through the door. It hadn't moved since Rei tried to close it. Even though Rei had the feeling that Accelerator tuned out all sound, she still wanted to whisper.

"Yes, yes, Misaka Misaka confirms." Last Order giggled a bit.

"I'm somewhat afraid of what will happen if we get caught."

"Accelerator-san won't care for long, Misaka Misaka tells Ryuuzaki-san." Last Order was behind Rei, looking at a sleeping Accelerator. He hadn't changed his clothes at all.

"_For long_?" Rei made her voice even softer as she crept passed the door.

There was a small circular, wooden nightstand next to his bed. A glass of water and a cell phone perched on it. "Last Order, do me a favor and swirl the water in that glass quietly."

Last Order obediently did so, not making a sound (to Rei's surprise). _Should I explain why to her? I only know how to move objects that are moving…_

Rei looked at the glass. A thick stream of water rose from the surface. Smoothly, the water spiraled a couple of times and snaked slowly to Accelerator's unsuspecting face.

_Splish. _Accelerator's face and hair immediately got wet. Accelerator's closed eyes squeezed and his mouth grew into a scowl.

Rei and Last Order immediately reeled back to the door. They didn't go farther; they wanted to see Accelerator's reaction.

_"Last Order, I know it's you." _Accelerator crankily said. Even though Accelerator wasn't even fully conscious, Rei thought he still sounded dangerous.

"Andddd Misaka Misaka is out." Last Order saluted to Rei and scrambled off. Rei knew that look on Last Order's face; it was the look of placing the blame on someone else.

_"Brat."_ Accelerator. _"When I wake up, you're gonna get it…"_

"A-Actually," Rei stepped forward so her face could be shown from the door. She wanted to laugh and run away at the same time. Accelerator was sitting up in bed, his hair soaked. The water dripped from his chin onto the front of his shirt. _Oh look, he's already glaring so early in the morning._

"So this was _your_ idea?" He scowled, his voice icy.

"W-Well, not _exactly_. Part of it was Last Order-chan's idea." Rei stammered, taking interest in the floor.

"Aw, come on Accelerator! How else were you going to wake up today?" Yomikawa walked in, a terrified Last Order clinging on her leg.

"Normally." He answered bitterly.

"But that would make Ryuuzaki-san wait until 2, jan! And you have to take those two out for lunch." Yomikawa put her hands on her hips.

"I never agreed to anything."

"Yes you did. You agreed," Yomikawa pointed to Rei, "to help this young lady with her ESPer. And, obviously, you're going to have to take a break eventually. Might as well go out for lunch. As much as Yoshikawa goes on about healthy lunches and family time, she's just too busy today to do anything she preaches, the hypocrite."

"…" Accelerator's retorts had been matched.

Yomikawa sighed, "Now, do us all a favor and get ready. Yoshi's already finished her coffee, that's how late you are today, jan."

"…"

"Oh, and I hope you realize that the small puddle of water Rei poured on you doesn't constitute a bath," Yoshikawa entered. "We all still expect you to take a bath."

_"Please."_ Yoshi and Yomi said at the same time.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7:

Accelerator groggily ate whatever Yomikawa put in front of him. He wasn't paying attention to anyone or anything beside his food.

He heard voices, though. "Does he normally eat like this?" _So she's not stammering now. _Just the thought of her made him extremely irritated. _Is it because of the morning or her or both? Huh. Doesn't matter._

"He used to eat all that instant food before, but now he eats my awesome omelets, jan!" Yomikawa said energetically. Accelerator didn't respond; he just chewed on the omelet.

"You're really proud of your omelets, huh?" Yoshi and Rei said at the same time.

と あ る 臨 時 の 人

It wasn't until Rei and Last Order pulled Accelerator outside did he confirm how early it was. He was forced to walk out of the apartment's front entrance red-and-white awning, early morning light poked his eyes. Last Order pulled at his jeans sleeve; Rei at his free hand. "Oi, you two brats, let go! I can walk on my own!" He growled.

"You use a cane to walk normally, Accelerator-sensei." Rei retorted calmly. 

"Your personality is so damn convoluted." Accelerator fumed.

"Please don't swear in front of the children." Rei retorted in the same fashion, although she let go of his t-shirt sleeve.

"What children? All I see are two brats."

"Brats _are_ considered children."

"…"

The three walked into the cobblestone park and garden. It had a different light in the morning; people were biking and jogging on the paths. None were paying attention to the odd trio; most of them had mp3 players plugged in. Even with no one looking at them, Rei felt too crowded.

"We're not going to be practicing here, are we?"

"Well," Accelerator plopped on a bench. He looked at around while he was talking to Rei. "I don't know what you know. What I teach you depends on what you know already."

"I can only move moving objects, really…" Rei trailed off.

"That's lame."

"Accelerator-san shouldn't be a bully, Misaka Misaka says!" Last Order pointed accusingly at Accelerator.

"Well, it _is_. What kind of a vector change ESPer can't even move still items? I bet you didn't even realize anything about plasma, either."

"Plasma?" Rei looked confused.

"Nevermind." Accelerator shook his head.

"So what will we do? Will we stay here? I don't feel comfortable here with all these people." Rei asked again.

"Dunno…" Accelerator shrugged. "But…I think it's time you learned how to move still things."

"Un! Misaka Misaka agrees!" Last Order did a thumbs-up and turned to Rei. "I'm sure with some practice, you'll be able to move any still object! Misaka Misaka tries to boost Rei's confidence."

Rei just kept looking down at her. Her mouth was slightly ajar, as if she wanted to say, _"Anything, except his heart."_

と あ る 臨 時 の 人

"Ow! That hurts!" Rei's voice was higher-pitched

"Hold still already!" Accelerator was merciless.

"But it hurts! Can't you tie it _nicer_?

"It does look like it hurts, Misaka Misaka observes."

"The hell does '_nicer_' even mean in that context?"

The trio was back into the guest bedroom. Accelerator had brought a pole and rope from outside and began tying Rei against the pole.

"There." Accelerator exhaled. "I'm done with the tying." He leaned back against the dresser. It was faced across the bed. The room was simple enough. Right beside the bed was a square wooden nightstand. A light and a digital clock were on the stand. There was less than a yard of space between the nightstand and the sliding closet. The closet was on the wall that had the door to the near-square room. A large window with transparent, white fabric curtains was on the far side.

"You could have been a bit gentler…" Rei barely sounded audible.

"The goal of this exercise is," Accelerator ignored her, "to get untied from the rope without snapping it. The rope is, in this case, a still object. I tied it hard enough and in a way that hurts you if you try to move."

In case you didn't know this beforehand," he began to explain, "Everything has atoms in it. Even in solids, the atoms are vibrating- but just barely. The minute movement, however," he raised his upper right arm. A pencil case on the dresser fell, startling Last Order. "Is enough for us to manipulate. Well, it shouldn't be a problem for Level 5s, anyway. But it should be possible for you anyway."

"So that was the point of tying it so hard? I'm having trouble breathing."

"Then get working on the knot." He stood up and shook off imaginary dust.

"Can't you at least tell me the kind of knot you used?"

"Nope. See ya." Accelerator walked out the door.

"Time for lunch, Yoshi, jan!" Yomi called out to Yoshikawa. Clearly she expected the other three to still go out for lunch.

Rei's stomach grumbled. "It's good that you're still here, Last Order-chan." She looked to Last Order. Now that Rei was tied up, she was on eye level with her. "I'm surprised that he hasn't told you to leave with him."

"Accelerator-san probably knows how to figure out if I helped you, that's why, Misaka Misaka guesses."

"Well." she grunted. The rope was really cutting into her waist and wrists. "Could you tell me what kind of knot he used? I'm sure that wouldn't constitute as cheating." She huffed. "I can't move still objects yet, so how on earth can I _see_ their position if I can't _see_ their structure?"

"Misaka Misaka begs your pardon?"

"Oh, never mind that. Just look, please."

Last Order moved behind her. "It's a double knot, Misaka Misaka reports." Last Order breathed.

"Really?" Rei wanted to laugh hollowly, but the ropes suppressed the will to do even that. "I'd have suspected that he used some complicated knot that the E-scouts use."

"Misaka Misaka thinks that that is Accelerator-san's way of going easy on a student."

"He calls that easy?" She questioned. "Anyway, stay silent for a moment. I need to concentrate." She closed her eyes. Her ability always felt like lucid dreaming in real life. She could move any moving thing in a different way with a thought. The only difference was that lucid dreaming was harder to her. It was ten times easier for Rei to think of something that would hurt her in the dream than it was to fight it.

_Speaking of dreams…_Rei still remembered the dream she had last night. It was such a relaxing dream. _There was just a beach, a beautiful island, and no one was there…_

_ Gah! Back to the rope-untying! These ropes are so tight, yet I'm thinking about dreams?_

It's not as if Rei saw anything when she closed her eyes. She didn't see any "scans" of the place around her when her eyes were closed. But her intuition did sense things for her. She saw nothing; her intuition felt the things around her and reported them to her.

This time, her intuition was working with her imagination. She had to picture what a double knot looked like. Her intuition was the one that figured out how it was situated on her.

_Come on! I need force to start untying it!_ She tried motivating herself once she finished sensing the knot.

Suddenly, her chest felt looser. _Tah_, the rope fell around her.

"Wow, that was fast, Misaka Misaka says! Congratulations, Ryuuzaki-san! Ryuuzaki-san is learning so fast that Misaka Misaka predicts you'll be a level 5 in less than a year! Less than 6 months, maybe! Misaka Misaka says optimistically." She spun around.

Rei didn't say anything at first. She first took deep breathes, compensating for her lack of oxygen. "Thanks, Last Order-chan." She picked up Last Order. _Huh. She's not too heavy._ "Let's go have some lunch."

"Okay, Misaka Misaka cheers!" Last Order's arm pumped air.

Rei walked outside and observed the surroundings. To her joy, all three were preoccupied. Yomikawa and Yoshikawa were sitting together at the dining table. Their backs were to Rei. Rei was somewhat surprised that the group moved around the table. _Shouldn't the head of the table always sit at the head of the table? No matter. Now, Accelerator…_She looked to him. He was sitting on the armchair, flipping through a different magazine.

"Ey, can't I have lunch _now_?" He said impatiently to the two without looking away.

"Not until Ryuuzaki-san's done with the task you assigned her. Although, I must say, I hardly call what you're doing teaching. Also, where did you get the pole?"

"One of those road signs. There were so many of them, so I thought it wouldn't matter if I took one. It had a couple of those traffic monitors and signals on it. And, heh, that brat's not going to be done until it's dinnertime."

"EH? YOU TOOK A TRAFFIC POLE? GO RETURN THAT! THAT DOESN'T BELONG HERE, JAN!" Yomikawa shouted.

Yoshi looked seriously at Yomikawa. "I didn't know our ceiling was that high, Yomi."

Yomi looked sheepish. "Oh, so it was just a joke. But still, where did you get it."

"Someone threw it away."

The two looked appalled. Rei could only imagine their looks, but she knew what their reactions were "That's even worse than taking city property. I expect that thing out before dinnertime." Yoshi commanded.

"You shouldn't be so mean to Ryuuzaki. She's earnest. I bet she's almost done already." Yomikawa huffed. Rei took this as the time to start walking.

She walked passed Yomi and Yoshi without a word. She heard Yomi stop her breath, not saying whatever she was going to say.

She stopped behind Accelerator. She smirked; he didn't realize the casted shadow. With Last Order still in her arms, she bent forward. She was so close to Accelerator's ear, she had to be careful not to accidentally kiss it. "I'm done. It's not dinnertime." She said normally. As she expected, Accelerator didn't twitch. Rei was, however, sure that his face showed some surprised. As Yoshi and Yomi giggled, she stood up straight. She was smirking some more as Accelerator turned around. Rei could just imagine how she looked to him. A shadow on her face, a snicker, Last Order in her arms. She must have looked proud to him, boastful even. After all, Accelerator had been proven wrong. He showed no signs of this, but Rei expected that.

"Time for lunch," she said. "Let's go."


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8:

"Accelerator will be delighted to go right now. Enjoy, young ladies. It's his treat, after all." Yoshikawa smiled as she put her plates away.

"Good one, Ryuuzaki-san." Yomikawa laughed at the table. "Clever Ryuuzaki-san. Clever, clever Ryuuzaki-san."

"Thanks." Rei put Last Order on the ground. Last Order went to the front and put on her snow boots. "I don't think it's snowing outside, is it? There might be some ice, but nothing sneakers couldn't help."

"December's almost over, and Christmas has already ended. Snow is scarce, though. Huh." Yoshikawa said, drinking some water.

"Global warming and whatnot," Yomikawa waved her hand. "But I don't think boots are necessary."

"Misaka Misaka prefers her snow boots over her sneakers."

Rei looked over to the doormat. Bright pink snow boots were next to grey and brown laced sneakers. "Ah, your boots are pink with yellow dots. I can see why you like them."

Accelerator got up and stretched his arms. "Fine. Let's go already."

"Oh yes, you need to stretch for reading a magazine." Yomikawa joked.

"Eh, you know Yomi. It's very challenging for youth these days to sit still." Yoshi joined in. Rei had trouble stifling a giggle. It was only Accelerator's near presence that suppressed her urge.

"Okay, we'll be leaving now." Rei slipped on her own sneakers: they were black with white strips and white laces. She loved her exercise shoes. They beat her uniform shoes any day.

"Bye!" Yoshi called, heading to her room. "I have to go out to do some errands, too."

"Enjoy your lunch, jan!" Yomi said. She finished off her food with her drink.

と あ る 臨 時 の 人

Rei and Last Order held hands as they walked alongside a water body. On one side was a clean metal railing, preventing people from falling into the water. On the other side was a line of shops and restaurants. The crowd was fairly crowded. It was the crowdedness that lead Last Order to hold Rei's hand. Accelerator followed behind, not motivated to move at all.

"Misaka Misaka wonders if you're new to Academy City?" Last Order asked politely when Rei almost got cut off from her when a crowd of tourists walked past. After that, Rei instinctively searched for Last Order. It was embarrassing to Rei, but Last Order had more of her bearings here.

"I believe I've always been here." Rei said louder than she normally would. The chatter was bearable- it reminded her of lunchtime at school- but she hated the fact that she had to speak louder to be heard. She had been told more than once that she had a soft voice.

"'I believe'? Misaka Misaka repeats, confused." Last Order continued looking in front of her, weaving around groups of people when necessary. Rei was slightly impressed. How many primary-school girls had such dexterity?

_Girl? She's a clone._ A voice in her said. A girl's voice. Her voice.

_Ah? I didn't come up with that sentence. Is a mind-reading ESPer nearby? Playing pranks? Hello, voice? _No response.

"Ryuuzaki-san? Misaka Misaka asks, as Ryuuzaki-san never responded."

"Ah, sorry! Well, a few years back, I woke up in a hospital. The doctors told me I had suffered from a serious case of amnesia. I can't remember anything before that. They had my history in a computer, though, and they tried to help me remember and told me information." Rei spoke softer now. It felt weird, telling her past to someone, especially this young girl or clone or whatever.

"Oh, that's so unfortunate! Misaka Misaka says sympathetically!" Rei could see a large shopping center coming into view. _We're going to eat there?_ She thought. "Does not knowing your past bother you or infringe your current life, Misaka Misaka asks?"

"Not really. Once I got out of the hospital, I got sent to a far-away part of Academy City. The hospital helped fill in my forms for my junior high school. That school has four divisions: a primary school, a junior high school, a high school, and a college. I just use the step-program. No point in moving away. Toshiko- that's the name of the school- is a pretty good school and I like it there. Even though I'm just a sophomore there, I like it. There may have been a couple discussions on family now and then…but it was okay. I'm apparently an orphan as well," Rei added the last part so Last Order wouldn't question it, "but since my junior high had dorms, I've never stayed in an orphanage. Toshiko also has dorms, too."

"Ah, one of the prestigious high schools, Misaka Misaka recalls. I hear it's Tokiwadai's greatest rival, Misaka Misaka recalls some more."

"Un," Rei nodded. "Say…" Rei. "Have you ever been to school?"

"No, Misaka Misaka was programmed with basic knowledge. Misaka Misaka's knowledge wasn't fully encoded in, though." Last Order spoke with a systematic drone. _It's as if she planned to say that._

"Uh…programmed?" A feeling in Rei's mind felt as if it was completing itself. _The thought that Last Order isn't human…I was right? Where did I get that from?_

Last Order stopped moving and looked at her. A serious, sincere look on Last Order didn't fit her, Rei thought. "Misaka Misaka is a clone. Clone 20-…." She stopped abruptly, looking up at Rei. It took Rei a few seconds to realize Last Order wasn't looking at her, but-

"Where are we going, anyway?" Accelerator drawled.

Rei took notice of her surroundings. _Huh, I should be a bit more attentive next time. The last time I wasn't paying attention, Haruhi-_

"Ah, look." She said. "We're here."

と あ る 臨 時 の 人

The building loomed over them. Colorful banners of sales and events hung from all sorts of windows and edges. People came and went, by themselves, pairs, drones. "I'm fine with anything. I'm not really from this part of the city, but I've heard of a good croquette place here. Let's go." Rei started climbing up the several, small steps.

と あ る 臨 時 の 人

"Damn it, brat. What were you going to tell her? What?" Accelerator hissed at Last Order, his red eyes filled with more knives than usual

"I wasn't going to tell her all about Project Radio Noise, Misaka Misaka justifies her action." Last Order looked steadily at Accelerator. She seemed to lapse into a look of her sister clones. Neither she nor he noticed Rei walking away. Then again, she didn't notice them either.

"Hell, with the way you were going, you'd have to spill. Even a bit of that knowledge begs for the rest." Accelerator narrowed his eyes. "We don't need her to know. Now she's going to press for more. It was a sudden question." _Is she after something else?_

Now it was Last Order's turn to narrow her eyes. "Misaka Misaka trusts Ryuuzaki-san. Even though Misaka Misaka has known Ryuuzaki-san for less than 24 hours, she has the trustworthy air around her. Ryuuzaki-san won't press Misaka Misaka for information. Ryuuzaki-san knows her place; Misaka Misaka knows she will be kind."

"She also has the Level 5 air about her," he retorted. Last Order held her ground, but she said nothing.

"Accelerator-san has been listening in on what Ryuuzaki-san has been saying, Misaka Misaka proposes?"

"She's not the average Academy Student, now is she? Amnesia? Vector Change? Level 5 but Level 4? _What on Earth makes you think she's to be openly trusted?_"

_Thud._ "Oh my!" Some people cried behind them, but the two were still focused on each other.

"Nothing's wrong with Ryuuzaki! Misaka Misaka says knowingly. If Ryuuzaki ever asks Misaka Misaka, she will receive a trustworthy answer!" Last Order raised her voice, clenching her fists.

Accelerator looked down to her fists. He seemed bored yet serious again. "And," he said so the people near him wouldn't hear, "if she does something with that information, I'll end her."

"Huh, Misaka Misaka exclaimed! Misaka Misaka would like to see Accelerator-san try!" She turned to start walking. "RYUUZAKI! MISAKA MISAKA IS ALARMED! WHAT HAPPENED, MISAKA MISAKA ASKS AS SHE LOOKS AT REI'S FALLEN BODY!"

"Seems kinda obvious to me…" Accelerator muttered.

No response from Rei came.


	9. Chapter 9

A/N: I feel like I should change my story summary. 'Cause, you know, it's what I came up a year ago.

Chapter 9:

_You caused her…_

_To say that? I know. _When Rei had been accidentally pushed off the stairs by a child, she fell 10 steps down to the bottom of the steps. She wanted to get up, but she was so tired, the shock of falling left her paralyzed on the ground. She could feel that her eyes were closed, but who knew if she was conscious or not if she could hear Dark Rei? And why was Dark Rei not saying anything to her again?

"Ryuuzaki-san, wake up, Misaka Misaka shakes her!" Rei felt a gentle shake on her shoulders. _It can't be helped, she's just a kid. She's not strong enough yet._ She slowly opened her eyes and blinked. "Last Order-chan?" She sat up and coughed. Falling on her shoulders and upper-back regions was pretty painful. _Although it's a blessing that I didn't fall on my head._

"Sorry, Misaka Misaka apologizes! Misaka Misaka should have paid more attention to Ryuuzaki-san." Rei used her peripheral vision to look around. A small crowd had gathered, and Accelerator was a couple of steps back. He almost seemed like a passerby if it wasn't for his sharp glaring at the two of them. His hands were in his pockets; he was just surveying them.

"Doesn't she look like that girl from the manga?" A young woman gossiped with the woman next to her. Their mouths were covered by their mouths, but who didn't know better?_ I'm sure even Last Order can hear them._ When she looked back at Last Order, she was amazed at Last Order's expression. _What kind of a trance is she in? Is she concentrated on what they're saying? _There were other people whispering- probably of other things- but Rei paid attention to the two women.

"Yuki Cross," the other breathed, "from _Vampire Knight_."

"That's who, Misaka Misaka remembers," Last Order looked at the ground in her trance. She stood up. As she did so, Rei also got up. "That's who Misaka Misaka was thinking of all along."

_Last Order-chan?_

人

"Croquette & Burger is on the first floor. Let's go." Rei looked at the mall's map. She stood on the escalator that was right next to the map. "I know where it is from the map, so I'll show you," she said, taking the lead. Last Order followed her, Accelerator once again taking the back.

_ Beep boop. Beep boop. _Last Order turned around at the sound; Rei kept looking forward.

Last Order saw Accelerator look through his side jeans pocket. He pulled out a vibrating phone. _Beep boop. Beep boop._

人

"Darn that Yoshi, leaving me here to clean out the trash that he brought in." Yomi growled to herself. Most of the apartment had been carpeted; the guest room just got a polish for its wooden floors. It was the least damaged out of all the rooms, so everyone became frugal when it came to the guest room. Yomi felt a bit embarrassed, though, because she hadn't cleaned the room in weeks and Rei had just slept there. _That Yoshi! What kind of errands does she even have to do? I bet she just left on purpose so I'd have to do all the work! Surely she should help the New Year's Cleaning. _Yomi was fuming no matter what. She had already vacuumed everywhere, mopped the kitchen, cleaned the bathrooms _and_ even cleaned the toilets. I_'ve started cleaning a week early, and I'm already almost done! Darn it, at this rate, I'll have to clean it again before the New Year even comes! _But no matter how hard she tried, she was still a bit ticked at Yoshi. _I hope a crisis comes along soon so I don't have to come home for a few days_! She said angrily. _Then Yoshi will have to clean everything for days on end!_

Before Yomi got out the necessary supplies to clean the guest bedroom, Yomi first fixed the bed. Or at least, she tried to. Rei had already beaten her to it. _Wow, she's on top of things._ _No wonder she got accepted to Toshiko. Guess I'll work on throwing the trash out. _She clicked in disgust when she saw the pole and rope on the floor. She first quickly threw the pole into an almost-filled garbage and threw it out the door. _Phew, now that that's out of my house, I can throw that away after I'm done cleaning._

_ She was doing a challenge, right? What did Accelerator tell her to do? What did he say? Oh right, vector change out of the rope without breaking i- _Yomi lifted the flayed rope off of the floor. _…_

She tossed the rope in the garbage bag, washed her hands in the kitchen, and pulled out her phone.

_Ringggggg…._

人

"Hello?" Accelerator said out loud. In confusion, Rei turned around as she stepped of the escalator. Last Order almost tripped from the uneven ending- she still wasn't paying attention- but Rei jerked her away before she would have tripped.

"Thank you, Ryuuzaki-san, Misaka Misaka thanks Ryuuzaki-san." She turned back to Accelerator. Rei did the same. He was talking to someone. He got off the escalator and went a ways off in Rei's opposite direction, his back to them. Try as Rei might, she couldn't hear what Accelerator was talking about.

Rei put one hand on each of Last Order's shoulders. "Can you hear what he's saying, Last Order-chan?" Her curiousity sometimes got the better of her; Rei had a terrible habit of eavesdropping.

"…No, Misaka Misaka says."

人

"Hello?" Accelerator spoke into the receiver.

"Ey, Accelerator. I'm cleaning the apartment now. I decided to take a break now" Yomikawa said.

Once Accelerator got off the escalator, he completely disregarded the two "brats" and went off to the side. "Your point?" He whispered. Yomikawa wasn't the type of person to call for fluff.

"I was just cleaning the guest bedroom."

"And?"

"The rope was frayed, jan. It's a really messy split, though. Nothing neat that someone'd get with a knife. Unless she's terrible at handing sharp objects. Long story short, she didn't vector change the rope."

"…" Accelerator didn't say anything at first. "…Was Last Order with her?"

"I think so. When she tried to startle you, Last Order was in her arms."

"Out of all the people to carry knives, Last Order is the least likely of them all." Accelerator put his free hand in his pocket. He shifted weight to the right leg and arm- the side with his cane.

"…We'll talk about this later. Think I should tell Yoshi now?"

"Whatever. She'll have to find out eventually."

"Yeah. Well, bye." Yomi ended the call, the phone beeping to show no one was on the other side now.

Accelerator closed his phone's lid and placed it back in a pocket. He turned around to the girls and started walking forward.

He didn't do that without glaring at Rei first, though.

人

"Welcome to Croquette & Burger's Grand Opening. This is currently our third day in business in this location." A waiter with a striped blue and white hat and white apron came to Rei's table. His collared shirt was also white-and-blue striped. His pants were white with standard brown sneakers. It was a four-seater, the kind everyone saw all the time on TV. Rei and Last Order sat on one side while Accelerator sat on the other, facing Last Order on the inside. The waiter passed out three colorful menus with a smile and closed eyes. "My name is Suoh Yuu. I'll leave you three to make your decisions." He said, opening his eyes. He looked to Rei. Rei was surprised that he hadn't stopped smiling yet. How many happy waiters existed in the world, anyway?

"If the business has existed for three days," Accelerator crossed his arms and leaned back in his chair, "then how is it a Grand Opening? That was two days ago."

Rei giggled a bit. "So what will you guys have? I'm thinking of the chicken croquette with noodles on the side."

"I'm not paying for that," Accelerator shot.

"Oh yes you are. I'll tell Yoshikawa-sensei and Yomikawa-sensei if you don't." Rei retorted back, pointing in an accusing fashion at him.

Now it was Last Order's turn to giggle.

"Misaka Misaka will order the Kids' Croquette Meal." Last Order covered her face with the large menu, searching through it. "What will Accelerator-san get, Misaka Misaka wonders."

Accelerator sighed. "I'll just get a beef croquette with rice on the side and a drink."

"I'm back!" Suoh Yuu weaved around tables to get to their window seat. As Rei listed off the items to Suoh, Last Order peered out the window. _So many people, swarming everywhere like ants, Misaka Misaka thinks to herself…_

"Okay, if that's it, please wait for a few moments." He bowed and then speed-walked off to the kitchen.

"Huh, the help is so polite now. Sooner or later, they'll stop doing such nuances." Accelerator said, turning to the window as well.

"I don't know about him…he certainly seemed kind." Rei shrugged. "But I suppose you're probably right."

"Why don't you date him and find out?" Accelerator said bluntly.

"What? That was very uncalled for!" Rei said, clenching her fist on the table. Last Order turned and laughed, first looking at Accelerator and then Rei. Accelerator smirked at her.

"Just a joke, just a joke." He said, but he didn't stop smirking. Rei hoped she wasn't blushing. She sharply looked away. She turned to face a stomach covered with a dark brown suit vest.

"Ah," she looked up at a face that was smiling at her and the rest. Well, he did at first. When he met glances with Accelerator, he severely frowned. "Hello all, I'm Matsumoto Tabito, the creator of the Croquette & Burger franchise. It's a pleasure to meet you all." His voice betrayed his glare at Accelerator. Rei looked at him closely. Everything about him seemed fat: his portly figure, moustache, and even his face.

"Hello…" Rei said softly. "Hello." She said louder, not wanting to come off as unresponsive

"Does your family come to this mall often?" He inquired.

"…" No one said anything.

"Uhm…" Rei whispered. "We're not a family…" She looked up at Tabito.

"Oh, so sorry." He looked a bit embarrassed at the question, but Rei was sure it was nothing compared to the shock he was seeing on her face.

"No, we don't come here. My dorm isn't near here either."

"Ah, so your school is further away? Which school do you go to? My daughter goes to Tokiwadai." He changed the subject. Rei was wondering when Accelerator or Last Order were going to join in- if ever.

"Toshiko." She said.

"Oh, that's another very well-off school. Hmmm." He stroked his moustache in thought. Rei had to stop herself from laughing at the odd action. He walked away and came straight back before Rei could say anything to anyone. He placed a paper on Rei's placemat.

_Job Application_, the title read.

"You're probably in high school right? We're still looking for workers. Are you interested?" He said.

"Oh, uh, I'm not sure…." Rei said, looking at the form. This is the first time I've been offered an official job before….

"We have flexible timing! If you can't come because of cram school or a test or studying, just notify us and you won't get in trouble!" He tried to convince her.

"Well…" Rei looked to Accelerator and Last Order. Last Order looked at her curiously, as if saying, _"Misaka Misaka has no position to say anything in this. This is Ryuuzaki-san's call."_ Accelerator went back to looking out the window.

"Okay. I'll fill out the form and give it back to you later. Is that fine?" She looked up at Tabito. Was it her, or was his smile a bit forced?

"Oh, sure! Thank you for your acceptance!"


	10. Chapter 10

A/N: Thanks to DarkQueen for finding a typo. Tokiwadai is a girls' school, and I wrote "son" instead. Mistakes happen.

Chapter 10:

For no real reason, Rei put on her white, long nightgown. She walked to her room's window and opened it. There was a freezing breeze outside in combination with the already low temperature, but there wasn't much noise pollution for once. _Haruhi always reprimands me for opening the windows. I should be more considerate of her sometimes. I'm such a weird child, being able to handle extremely cold temperatures. _She closed her eyes and let the window blow her hair back.

After lunch with Accelerator and Last Order, they walked back to the apartment. Rei gathered up her clothes in a poly-bag and left. Yomikawa had insisted that she stay for dinner.

_"Come on, jan! Stay! Yoshi will cook dinner!" She urged_

_ "What? I believe it's your turn." Yoshi sharply said._

_ "Ohhhh no. Not after the hell you put me through with cleaning the entire apartment! I'm not cooking for at least a week!" She shouted. "Or," she spoke softer now, as if saying a disclaimer, "at least until we find out we don't have to clean again for New Year's Day…"_

_ "Thanks for you offer," Rei interjected, "but I really must go and study. I also need to finish some homework."_

_ "Ah, what a good student." Yoshi said. "Well, if you must go, you must go."_

_ "Huh. Wish I was like that in high school." Yomi crossed her arms. "But I'm still not cooking tonight."_

Now she was back in her own room, staring out of her own window. Her dorm was oriented differently than Accelerator's apartment. Her room, just like the guest bedroom, had wooden flooring. But her room had more of a rectangular feel to it. When one entered her room, the window would be on the far wall; it was covered with a thick white curtain. There was a bookshelf on the right wall, covered with textbooks and reading books. Rei had little time to read though, but the textbooks were always read whenever she had time. Her twin bed was near the door, and it faced the window. Her long, black wooden desk was near the window and on the left side. A grey wire dustbin was to the desk's left.

_Haruhi should be asleep by now._ She placed her right hand on the window sill and looked outside at the traffic. When the zooming cars bored her, she looked solemnly to the sky.

She looked behind to the nightstand near the door. _12:01_.

_Time for bed._

と あ る 臨 時 の 人

Rei was dreaming again. Her point of view seemed shaky, as if the person was dizzy. Not only was the steadiness of the dream sporadic, the focus kept changing from opaqueness to crystal clear sight. The person seemed to be lying down. A bed, perhaps. There was a dim yellow light to the side; the person looked to it. The light came from an archetypical lamp. It sat on a nightstand, and a black digital clock with red numbering showed 3:04 with a small AM on the bottom right side. There was a glass of water behind the clock and next to the lamp, and as the person's pale arm reached for it-

_Ping._

The person's arm immediately jerked from the water to down below the bed.

A black laptop was on the floor. The person pulled the laptop up and sat up, placing the laptop on his or her lap. He or she opened the laptop, and opened something on it. A few keys were hit, another page appeared, and the person moved closer to read what was on the page:

_We're in Sapporo now. It took us forever to find internet access again, so sorry about the delay in communication. Did your plan succeed? Did anything happen to her? It goes without saying that nothing should happen to her, right? We have to go now. Bye! ~S&Co._

The dream suddenly became clearer as the person clicked something and started typing. The dream's frame also became more stable.

_Of course it succeeded. What else did you expect from me? No, nothing has happened to her…yet. And it better stay that way. ~F_

と あ る 臨 時 の 人

_What a strange dream_, Rei thought beginning to wake up from her series of dreams. _Maybe Haruhi was right about taking it easy about the online note-taking. I'm getting all sorts of weird dreams with computers._ She sighed, still refusing to open her eyes, and turned to the side, moving her hand against the cool wall. _Those ESPers with prophetic abilities, maybe they have it easier than me. An ability like that certainly has its uses. Like what questions the teacher has penned for the physics test. If only I could have multiple abilities…I should get up now._ She turned to the other side and slowly opened her eyes to read the clock. The shock hit the back of her mind instantly, but it took a few more moments for her to comprehend. 11:00. Her eyes became wide with alarm.

"Crap!" She threw off her covers. "I overslept!"


	11. Chapter 11

A/N: So, who's excited for the next chapter? I've caught up~

Chapter 11:

Even though Rei didn't notice it, she got herself ready in record time. She finished brushing her teeth, showering, getting her clothes on, brushing her hair, and eating her food in 22 minutes. She put on a long button coat with mittens and yanked her purse from a dining table chair and ran out the door.

_Agh! I didn't write a note again to tell Haruhi I was gone!_ She though while stomping down her dorm room stairs. _Ah well, I never follow that, and I'm in a hurry. She wasn't inside anyway. I doubt she'll miss me._ She bolted out of the main door and went across the front courtyard. She took a right and sped that way. _Argh, even if it's only 5 blocks away. That's a long distance for a student like me!_ Taking heavy breathes she looked downwards to see her breath.

If anyone thought it was queer to see a young woman run without regard to others and the snow and ice, no one said anything. _At least I haven't slipped yet. Haruhi would be glad and sad at the same time…_

"Pyah!" Rei exhaled once she arrived at her destination. She put her right hand on the glass of the building as she steadied her breath. Once she was confident she wasn't going to pass out from the sudden running, she speedwalked inside.

Or, at least, she would have if she didn't walk into a girl. The girl had her head bowed, and she muttered, "Excuse me." From her light brown hair and flower clip, Rei thought she was just another ordinary person…

"Sorry about that," Rei said. _Have I seen this person before?_ She tried to search the person's face. _It's hard to remember when the person's looking away. Why is she bowing her head anyway? It seems awfully shifty._

Finally, the girl looked up, looking sheepish at her. The puzzle pieces in Rei's head immediately clicked.

_Mikoto Misaka! "Tokiwadai's Ace". Why does she look so embarrassed from going to a convenience store?_ She thought, looking at what Misaka was holding: a big paper brown bag with something flat in it. _Magazines…..? Manga? But why is she so embarrassed about it?_

"Ah…" Rei began. _Wait, do I call her with –sama or –san?_

_ How about you call her –chan?_

_ Now's not the time, Dark Rei._

"Er, Mikoto-san, right? I am Ryuuzaki Rei. I go to Toshiko's high school, and you go to Tokiwadai's middle school, right?" Rei bowed her head quickly

"Yes, have we met?"

Rei was almost certain that what Misaka said was instinct. _She's the third strongest ESPer in Academy City, for crying out loud! Of course people know her. Although that conflicts with her sheepish expressions. What terrible thing can one buy from a convenience store, of all places. EHHH, _she remembered something else, _DON'T TELL ME SHE BOUGHT PORN? HOW CAN MIDDLE SCHOOLERS GET AWAY WITH THAT? I THOUGHT THIS CONVENIENCE STORE WAS BETTER THAN THAT!_

"Ummm….?" Misaka said. The two were still blocking the entrance. No one seemed bothered, though.

"I-I mean I don't think so!" Rei blurted. "…No, I don't believe so. But all of Academy City knows you. It must be a blessing and a curse," she motioned her head towards the bag, "to have little privacy to the point where you depend on paper bags."

"Crap…Knew this would happen." Misaka looked deflated.

"If I may ask, why are you looking so sneaky with a paper bag of magazines?"

"They're not magazines," Rei could barely hear her, "manga…"

"I'm sure people would overlook your otaku tendencies because you're so powerful- and I bet nice as well…"

Misaka looked at Rei deeply to the point Rei felt she was rude for saying anything. "It's not everyone in Academy City," Rei again had trouble hearing her, "…it's _her_ I'm worried about."

"Her?"

"Onee-sama! Ima dokoni iruno~?" _Where are you now?_ A girl's cheery voice called out of nowhere. Rei saw Misaka look even more alarmed.

"A-ah, I have to go!" Misaka ran off.

Rei jerked her arm and grabbed Misaka's shoulder. It was as if she was in a trance; she still stared ahead.

_"If you can think of one guy you have never liked…ever…that person has probably gone through retribution by now. Karma. I can think of someone like that now."_

"Eh, uh, yeah. Bye." Misaka looked confused, looking back at her. She ran off when the girl called again.

_Eh? What did I just say? Did Dark Rei have something to do with it, again?_ She sighed. _I hope I never see her again, or I'll die of embarrassment_.

She entered the store, shaking her head.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12:

"It all just doesn't fit together." Yoshi said out loud. Feeling cold, she had put her old lab coat on and sat down on the armchair. She supported her chin with her hand and was deep in thought. When she had come back from her errands, which included the grocery store, Yomi and Accelerator had debriefed her. The two were sitting on opposite sides of the sofa. Accelerator was sitting closer to Yoshi, crossing his long legs and leaning back, his arms crossed as if he was irked. Yomikawa put leaned her left elbow on the sofa's arm. Everyone looked unhappy with the exception of Last Order. She had actually fallen asleep afterwards, the walk making her more drowsy than usual.

"I know. Should we ask Last Order if she did anything to the rope?" Yomikawa sounded tired all of a sudden.

"I doubt the brat actually cut the rope. That rope's too thick compared to her strength. We can interrogate her later if necessary, but I don't think she did anything." Accelerator said.

"Well, thinking about this logically…" Yoshikawa knit her hands together and put her elbows on her legs. Accelerator and Yomikawa looked to her. "If it all doesn't fit together, then that means some of the data is either corrupted or not present altogether."

"_Tch_, but we can't figure that out by ourselves, can we?" Yomi said. "We don't have much to go on, jan."

"Why don't we just ask her?" Yoshi said. "If she's really as innocent as she appears, she won't think any of it. I'll use that information to run crosschecks with some of my computers' databases."

"Naïve, you mean?" Accelerator said.

Yoshi weakily smiled. "They kind of mean the same thing, in a way. Naïve is just a more negative term for it."

"We should just ask her next week. She's coming back then, right?" Now it was Yomi's turn to cross her arms. She turned on the lamp that was in that corner. She took a magazine from the corner's mini coffee table and a pen. She flipped to a page that had enough writing space and looked up to Yoshi. "So, what are we going to ask, exactly? We have to get this down…Wait a minute." She narrowed her eyes at Yoshi, whose smile was becoming wider. "Computers? I thought you dismantled them…Was this sneakiness what you meant by 'errands'?"

"Maybe."

"_Tch_, jan. She plans into the future. Guess I can't complain right now, though."

"When you're done indirectly complementing her, go make dinner."

"HOW MANY TIMES DO I HAVE TO TELL YOU, JAN? LIKE HELL I'M COOKING AFTER I DID ALL THE NEW YEAR'S CLEANING BY MYSELF, JAN!"

Yoshi sighed. "Fine…Someone go wake up Last Order."

と あ る 臨 時 の 人

"Good evening Ryuuzaki-san!" Yomikawa opened the door to her. "I have to be honest, I wasn't sure if you would find us without trouble."

"Oh, it was no problem," Rei smiled as she took of her sneakers. She took of her coat and walked towards the closet. "All I had to search was the beautiful park you guys live nearby and the memory came back. Where's Accelerator-sensei?"

"Uh, he went out. He'll be back in time for dinner, though." Yomi closed and locked the door. Rei saw Yoshi reading a novel on the armchair. Yoshi looked up and smiled at her, promptly returning to her book.

"Ryuuzaki-san, Ryuuzaki-san! Misaka Misaka calls out." Last Order ran to Rei and stopped in front of her. She looked up with a smile. "Misaka Misaka and Ryuuzaki-san should cook something together for dinner!"

"Ah, really?" Rei blinked at her. She broke into a grin unexpectedly. "If that's the case, then I have a recipe from an old friend. Let's go into the kitchen-ah, wait. Do you mind-" she looked to Yomi.

Yomi shrugged. "No one minds. At least the two of us will have a break for once." She stretched and plopped herself on a sofa. She fished for a magazine out of the pile. She lifted a pen from the table. "Time for the magazine puzzle!" She said, concentrating only on the magazine.

"Hmmm….Does a beef udon noodle bowl sound good to you, Last Order-chan?" Rei was in the kitchen now. She kneeled to Last Order's height and took out a recipe from her jean's pocket.

As Last Order scanned the recipe card, Yomi and Yoshi called, "That sounds delicious!" at the same time.

"Mmph! Misaka Misaka agrees and nods her head!"

Rei smiled at her. She stood up and began searching for the ingredients. "Okay then. Want to help me find some ingredients?"

"Misaka Misaka would like to help Ryuuzaki-san!" Last Order fist pumped the air energetically.

"It's so cute how you always talk in third person, Last Order-chan. Can I call you Mi-chan?" 

"Sure, Misaka Misaka says. Ryuuzaki-san's 'Mi-chan' is better than Accelerator's 'brat' any day! Should Misaka Misaka come up with a name for Ryuuzaki-san?"

"You can just call me Rei." Rei opened the fridge and pulled out a medium-sized container with a decent amount of beef. "Now, 8 ounces of udon noodles….Mi-chan, can you please find the cooking spray and measuring cups?"

"Misaka Misaka will find the requested materials!"

"So, Ryuuzaki-san, you cook as a hobby?" Yoshi asked her, flipping a page.

"Oh, not really. My dorm has a kitchen, so Haruhi and- she's my doormate- I take turns cooking. It's kind of like you two cooking, only without all the complaining and we sometimes cook together when Haruhi suggests it."

"When you grow older, jan, you're going to complain about cooking. I bet on it." Yomi said.

"I doubt it. Okay, now to find the shitake mushrooms…2 cups of that…" her voice trailed off.

"So you go to Toshiko, correct?" Yoshi asked.

"Yes, have I not said that before? It's nice going to Toshiko, their dorms are quite lavish and the school has many amenities and opportunities. It's extremely strict, though. I believe I've said before that Toshiko's junior high is in fierce competition with Tokiwadai, who, by the way, loses quite frequently to us in archery and badminton competitions." She added smugly.

"Yeah, you did say something of that. Well, except for the badminton and archery part. Did you participate in those sports? Does that mean you were once part of the junior high division?" Yomi said, scribbling something onto her magazine. Rei thought nothing of it, she was still gathering the ingredients.

"Un, I joined in the junior high division once I got out of the hospital. I hadn't applied before for the elementary division. If I did, I would have just used the stair-step path. And yes," Rei sounded smug again, "I would know if Tokiwadai lost to us in badminton and archery, because I'm on their badminton and archery teams."

"Wait, hospital?" Yoshikawa said gently.

"Yeah, I suffered amnesia as a result of head trauma. I can't remember anything before I was in 7th grade- I applied before second term started. Toshiko wasn't near the hospital I was at, but since Toshiko had dorms, it was fine. The hospital told me I was an orphan, so it's not like I could have stayed at my parents' home."

"Misaka Misaka found the cups and spray!" Yomi and Yoshi heard the _clack_ of the plastic cups being placed on the counter.

"Thank you!"

"Wow…so young and you're already alone….how old were you then?" Yoshi asked.

"Hmmm….12, I think?"

"So you're…?"

"I'm a first year in the high school division now, so I'm 14. The doctors told me my birthday's in the springtime."

"Oh really, when?" Yoshi asked further.

"March 14th."

"You said your hospital is far away from Toshiko, and this place is far away from Toshiko, so are you saying the hospital is near here?" Yomi stopped scribbling for a brief moment. She and Yoshi slowly exchanged glances before Yomi turned back to her magazine.

"I don't know. Is Miyazawa Public Hospital nearby?"

"Not sure." Yoshi shrugged.

"So, enough about me," Rei said as she sliced carrots, "how do you two normally spend your day? What are your jobs?"

"Anti-skill lieutenant." Yomi replied instantly.

"I currently am searching for a job. I was once a scientist for Academy City, so I still have a lot of money saved up. Of course, I'm still looking for employment."

"Oh really, what did you research?"

"…Oh, nothing that's entirely important. I just took data from experiments related to human efficiency and analyzed it."

"I see. Must be top secret, important Academy City stuff."

"Indeed it is. Indeed it is."

"…Where's Accelerator?" Yomi asked.

"I don't know. How much time will it take you to finish dinner, Rei."

"With Mi-chan's help, I should be done in about 30 minutes? I've only just gathered everything together."

"Accelerator better come soon," Yomi mumbled threateningly.

と あ る 臨 時 の 人

The doorknob turned back and forth. "I'm home from this stupid task." Accelerator took off his shoes. He was carrying a laptop bag. "Here," he gave the bag to Yoshi and sat on the sofa. "Where are those two?"

"Last Order and Rei already went to bed. Leftover beef udon noodles are in the fridge." Yomi said, ripping out a page from her magazine. She handed it to Accelerator.

Accelerator scanned the page and gave it back. "So you've already gathered the information?"

"Yup, jan. Now all we have to do is search it when Rei leaves for school." Yomi said softly.

"God, how many computers do you frickin' own?" Acclerator growled at Yoshi. "Correction, how many broken computers do you own?"

"Several. A couple are hidden in this apartment, actually." Yoshi smiled faintly, putting her chin in her hand as if she was in nostalgia. "Except for the one I use currently, I've damaged every computer in a specific way that few would be able to fix them if found. One of my friends kept charge of that computer. I'm sure even my friend couldn't get into that computer. Even if the computer was fixed, he or she would have trouble breaking the security."

"Huh. Wish I could see this friend. All you told me was to go to a section of the library because the person dropped it off. Do you know how far the library is from here? It's 20 minutes by bus…And that doesn't even count the amount of time it took me to find the thing."

"Oh, you haven't exercised in a while. Suck it up, jan. Stop complaining." Yomi retorted.

Accelerator sighed again. He lifted himself up and went into the kitchen for dinner. "Who made dinner today? Yoshikawa?"

"Nope. Ryuuzaki-san did." Yoshi stood up and stretched. I think I'm going to shower and brush now, 'kay, Yomi?" Yomikawa nodded.

Accelerator heated the food up and ate a bite. "I expected worse."

Yomi chuckled. "I hope you weren't expecting poison, because we're still alive."

"I believe Accelerator is just a teensy weensy bit paranoid that Ryuuzaki is out to kill us." Yoshi put her pointer finger and thumb close together to show Yomi.

"That may be a bit too extreme, jan…"

"I guess," Yoshi walked to the bathroom. "But we'll find out some clues soon. Tomorrow night. When Ryuuzaki leaves. We'll get to the bottom of this."


	13. Chapter 13

A/N: Thanks, EtherealFox, for reviewing! I wish I could have sent you a message, but since you're a guest, I can't do that. Thank you for all your complements! I try my best to make the story as natural as possible. Yes, what you said makes sense. You're saying that some fanfics revolve around the OC, but mine has balance, correct? Thanks. I'm not so much a TAMNI fanfic reader as I am a writer, so I wouldn't know that. I don't know what you mean by Chapter 13, though. I hadn't posted a Chapter 13 at the time; I think I'll break from writing during weekends. I did have some issues with Chapter 12, though, in which I posted it but it never showed up to viewers even after the 30 min mark. Also, I never regarded them as "thermal vibrations"; I just regarded them as "vibrations" because what I said is true regarding states of matter. But thank you for your review! It was a joy to read.

Chapter 13:

_Pah. Hah. Pah. Hah._ The panting was so heavy, it was probably heard throughout the apartment. If someone had an inquiry, no one said anything. The evening's orange and pink-tinged light filtered through the transparent white fabric curtain in the guest bedroom. Rei lied on bed, her arms and legs sprawled far apart from each other. It was as if she was preparing to make a snow angel. _Pah. Hah. Pah. Hah._ Her breathing slowly steadied, but not enough before the door swung open.

"Accelerator, you really worked this girl to the bone today!" Yoshi looked at Rei and behind her. Rei could only guess that Accelerator was there. "Go a little bit easier on her the next time you're teaching her, okay?"

"If she wants to be a Level 5 ESPer, she should learn right now not to complain and just suck it up." He said bluntly.

"Ryuuzaki-san, you've been working hard haven't you. Would you-" The pencil up on the dresser suddenly flew at Accelerator's face as Yoshi was in mid-sentence. Accelerator deflected it back, the pencil cup making a harsh sound as it hit the wallspace next to the window. There was a small dark dent where the pencil cup hit, its contents now spewed across the guestroom floor.

"That was pathetic. You have to work on it more." Accelerator said. Rei tried to look at the door without moving her head. She was just that tired. Her breath was back to normal; no one could hear it now. Rei saw the can being put back on the dresser, the pencils and pens levitating back into it.

"Accelerator! She's clearly been working hard! Cut some slack, jan!" Yomi appeared next to Accelerator. She had Last Order in her arms. Last Order was smiling at Rei encouragingly. So was Yomikawa. Yoshikawa was slightly smiling, too. Accelerator was staring at her blankly; he was the only person to think her worthless.

Yoshi and Yomi walked to the bedside. The looked at her so caringly that Rei still couldn't bring herself to say anything.

_Is this what it's like to have parents? _She closed her eyes, wanting to sleep despite others being in the room.

Yomi put Last Order down and sat on the edge of the bed near Rei. "Now, I may be stating the obvious when I say this, but," Yomi turned to Rei and supported herself with her arm on the bed, "you look really, really exhausted, jan. Are you sure you're going to be able to go back home tonight?"

"You can stay her, you know. You're always welcome." Yoshi added. Yomi swiftly turned her head to Yoshi before looking back at Rei.

"I…I think I'll have to take you up on that offer." Rei panted. Even though her breath had returned to normal, she still had trouble speaking.

"_Now that we're outside, go do 10 laps around the park." Accelerator had told her, he himself deciding to sit down on a bench._

"_What! What does that have to do with vector changing?" Rei was in shock. Not only was she not expecting that, she knew she was totally not made of athletic caliber._

"_Listen, even if you do become a Level 5 with Vector Change, if something happens to that, you'll be up to your basic physical abilities and street smarts. Something tells me you're not the fastest runner, so go run already. It'll also give you a glimpse of the surrounding areas in case you ever get lost- which I'm assured you will- and the amount of things you're actual able to manipulate."_

_Rei had glared at him, and Accelerator mirrored her- but his glare was stronger. Rei continued glaring at him before muttering, "Fine." And running away in her long shirt and jeans._

"_You should be glad," Accelerator shrugged when she had left, "I made you run when there wasn't any ice and snow around."_

The flashbacks of the day were still reeling in Rei's mind when Yoshi smiled and handed her a glass of water. "Good. Now, it's time for dinner. Think you can stand?"

人

Once dinner was eaten and preparations before bedtime had been completed, Rei had collapsed onto her bed. No one noticed Last Order sneaking into her room and sleeping right beside her, but when Yomi went to check if Rei was actually asleep…

"Aw, Last Order is there with her. Looks like you completion, Accelerator, jan." Yomi grinned at him. Yoshi was sitting in the middle of the sofa, Accelerator and Yomi flanking her. She was typing rapidly in a computer.

"She asleep?" Yoshi whispered.

"Of course." Yomi leaned back and put her elbows on the sofa. "Oi, Accelerator." She looked at Accelerator. He shifted his gaze to her, his face still in the direction of the computer screen. "That was genius, making her run laps around the park. That was sure to make her tired."

Accelerator closed his eyes and shrugged. "It just worked out like that…"

"So it wasn't part of some plan, jan?"

"Will you two lower your voices?" Yoshi hissed. "I've accessed one of Academy City's main databases. She's clearly a citizen if she was given access to Toshiko, but- just to make sure- I checked a couple of the guest databases. She's not there, so she's a citizen."

Yomi and Accelerator said nothing; they just looked at the screen while Yoshi typed in letters and words that meant nothing to the two. The screen suddenly changed from black with green text to blue with white, robotic-print looking text. "Ahah, there. It's a good thing I haven't forgotten any of my old tricks."

"Were you ever allowed to see the databases, jan?" Yomi said suspiciously. "Even most Anti-Skill can't access them."

"I have my ways." Yoshi said enigmatically.

Yoshi moved her mouse to different texts on the left side. When she hovered over a text, a picture of a face and information below it would appear. When Yoshi clicked on a text, the information would stay rather than change to the next thing the mouse hovered on .

"That's a lot of names...jan." Yomi said.

"This is going to take a while." Accelerator sighed.

"You two, there's a search feature." Yoshi sighed. When she had started typing, her back was erect and upright, refusing to lean on the sofa. She was leaning on the cushions now, at this point. "Doing the brute force method is only a last-resort option. Oh, and we may share that task. There _are_ a lot of names here."

人

Yoshi typed in "Ryuuzaki Rei" in the search feature. "Those are the kanji that make up the name, right?"

Yomi nodded. "Think so. She exchanged her cell number with our house number. She wrote her name above it."

"Okay." Yoshi hit the "enter" button.

All three knew that Rei's name wasn't anything special. Still, Yomi looked visibly deflated when she saw 23 results pop up. "Man…." She moaned.

Quick as a whip, Yoshi hovered over each of the names. She instantly stopped when she noticed the long, brown hair. The picture looked just like Rei- if not a younger version of her. She was beaming in the picture.

"Have you ever seen her look _that_ happy, jan?" Yomi asked

Yoshi and Accelerator shrugged.

"The date of birth is correct, so far…" Yoshi trailed off.

Everyone stiffened as they read the information below it, thinking their search was finally done:

_Name: Ryuuzaki Rei_

_Ability: Electric Manipulator_

_Level: 1_

"What the hell…" Yomi and Accelerator whispered. Yoshi stared at the screen.

"I…I…I guess it's time for some brute force."

人

_"WHO THE HELL IS SHE, YOSHIKAWA. THIS BETTER NOT BE A JOKE."_ Accelerator hissed loudly.

"I'm not doing anything on purpose!"

"It's 3 AM now…We've been at this for, like, 6 hours jan. I think it's time to hit the hay for now." Yomi stood up and stretched.

Yoshi put the laptop on the main coffee table and leaned back. She wiped the sweat on her forehead. "It…It just doesn't make any sense. I've brute-forced the database. There's nothing even closely relating to this."

"Think the level is just a typo and she somehow used electricity to snap the rope?" Yomi folded her arms and looked at the peeved Yoshi and Accelerator.

"Even if that fact was to be true," Accelerator waved his hand as if he was pushing the idea away, "it wouldn't explain the fact that I've seen her move things. And let's not forget the pencil cup."

"This still doesn't add up." Yoshi breathed. She stood up and brushed herself off for no apparently reason. "It's really late. If we're going to wake up around 9 to see Rei off, we'll have to get to bed fast so we can get some sleep. We don't want Rei getting suspiscious." She turned to Yomi, who was already peering at the hallway, seeing if Rei was overhearing them; there was no one there.

"Who's right in this and who's wrong, jan." Yomi murmured as she walked to her room. "I don't have a goddamn clue."


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14:

"Did you sleep well, Ryuuzaki-san?" Yomi handed a plate of eggs and bacon to the sleepy-eyed Rei. Rei rubbed her eyes and nodded at her.

"Thank you." She yawned. "Ah, yeah. I did. I'm still a bit groggy, though."

Yoshi yawned back. "You know, they say that the majority of people yawn back when someone else yawns or they see the word 'yawn'."

Rei yawned again. "I've heard of that."

"Are you two going to have a yawn-off?" Accelerator mumbled to them, seating himself across from Rei this time. Rei, in her state of sleepiness, just sat in her normal seat, not caring if that was the only seat she bothered to sit in. It barely passed her mind that Last Order was sitting next to her, too.

"Eh, you'll wake up soon enough, jan." Yomi patted Rei's back. "You have to get home soon."

"Yeah, I do." Rei took a measly bite of her poached egg.

"Don't worry," now it was Yomi's turn to yawn, "I'll send the only people in this family that haven't yawned yet to escort you. Make sure you don't trip into the train's path and all that."

"And-" Yoshi pointed accusingly at Accelerator. He had his mouth slightly open at Yomi, as if he was about to speak up. "You will not complain."

Last Order yawned.

"You're still going." Yoshi and Yomi both looked at her pointedly.

As breakfast was finished and Rei and Last Order were putting on their coats and shoes, Accelerator put his plate in the sink. Yomi and Yoshi were standing right in front of the hallway. Yomi put her hand to Yoshi's ear and whispered, "He's walking her home!" The two giggled, too soft for Rei and Last Order to hear, but enough for Accelerator to stare at them somewhat quizzically.

と あ る 臨 時 の 人

"So, where are we headed exactly?" Accelerator asked as the three came out under the apartment's main awning.

"Just follow me. Your main objective is to make sure I don't sleep-walk myself into a lamp post or something." She held out her hand to Last Order. "Now it's your turn to follow someone else." She smiled. Last Order reached out for her hand and took hold of it.

Rei took a right and began walking. Accelerator duly followed behind them.

"Are we headed toward Nakamura train station? Misaka Misaka inquires."

"Un, we are. My home is probably half an hour from here. 45 minutes if there's a lot of traffic. And- let's face it- on Friday evening there is a lot of traffic."

When the trio finally arrived to the train station, Rei told the other two to get a one-way pass. "Even though you'll have to pay coming back, it's actually cheaper." She looked at Accelerator as he and Last Order were in the ticket purchasing line.

Accelerator looked down at her. After all, she only reached just barely above his shoulder bones. "Are you sure that's not because you're a student?"

"…"

"Two two-way passes." Accelerator told the lady behind the glass barrier that separated the two. The lady printed out two tickets and stamped them, finally passing them through the small opening in the glass wall.

と あ る 臨 時 の 人

"That was an interesting ride, wasn't it? Have you ever been in an underground train before, Mi-chan?" Rei said as the three climbed the stairs to get to the surface.

"I think you mean _subway_." Accelerator corrected.

"Same thing," Rei waved the comment away. "Have you ever been on one before?" She looked to Last Order.

"Misaka Misaka probably has been on an underground train, but Misaka Misaka fails to recall the time…"

"Well, no matter. It'll take us a couple more blocks, and then we'll take a right. I'll go on by myself. Uncertified people aren't allowed, and it'll take more effort than it's worth to get guest passes for you two." She told Accelerator.

He simply shrugged. "Fine by me."

As the group walked on, there were more and more student pedestrians. The more students there were on the path, the more stares Accelerator and Last Order got. Rei seemed ordinary to them; people only stared at her after looking at Accelerator.

"Is he-?" Some girls whispered.

"Ryuuzaki's _boyfriend_?" Others sounded appalled.

"_Ryuuzaki has a boyfriend_?" Some guys and girls seemed shocked.

"He seems older, though." A couple of girls behind him said. Accelerator continued looking straight. He never got anything from meddling with useless children, anyway.

"And who is that little girl, exactly?" Others sounded suggestive. "Her family? Or…"

"Don't be stupid! That's not possible!" A female voice hissed.

"Yeah…"

"Ah, we're here." Rei stopped at an intersection. Last Order and Accelerator looked to the right. There were still a couple more blocks left to go, but they could see a large, mauve-bricked building in the distance. "That's the main building where all the staff lounges and works. It's where guests go to get the temporary pass, too."

Rei waved to them and walked on, turning back to wave once more. When Last Order waved back, Rei turned back around to weave through the throng of students spending their weekend outside.

"It's funny, Misaka Misaka begins," Last Order stopped waving and looked at Accelerator. Accelerator kept his focus on Rei, narrowing his eyes. Her figure became smaller and smaller until it vanished in the crowds. "Misaka Misaka expected more people to make fun of Accelerator-san."

Accelerator just snickered.


	15. Omake I

A/N: …And I'm back! Sorry, I was planning to post a chapter a longgg time back. Like, before I went on my vacation back. Problem was that I kept getting eyeaches, headaches, wristaches (usually all three of those at the same time). The five days before my vacation usually were bland: I usually had to stay in bed because staring at a screen for more than two minutes would strengthen the aches. I was in no condition to write anything before I went on vacation. Heck, I had headaches for three/four days in a row on my vacation, too. And not only did I have some issues coming _back_ from vacation, I had _other_ work too. Not to mention this chapter is a little different, so I needed more time to think about it. Also- just a notice- updates are going to be even slower soon. I can easily see this story going into the thirties. Now, without further ado, here's the next part!

Chapter 15: OMAKE I

"Ne, Rei-chan, did you study for the history test?" A girl with medium-length bobbed hair turned around in her desk. She folded her arms on the chair's top and supported her chin on them. She looked curiously at Rei, who was sitting behind her. It was lunch time in the classroom, and others were chattering amongst themselves in small groups.

Rei looked up from her history textbook at her. "Huh?" Rei looked at her blankly. Rei was leaning on an elbow with her chin in her palm. She seemed diligently studious, but at the same time uninterested.

The girl sighed. "I swear, you're in your own world the whole time school's going on. You seem so lonely, Rei! But you don't seem to mind at all!"

Now it was Rei's turn to sigh. "_I_ was focusing on my studies just then, something _you_ rarely do." Rei smiled. "So, yes, I have studied for that test. And I'm currently studying now. And I will be doing so throughout all of lunch, just a heads up."

"For your information, I _did_ study for this test, so _there_." The girl stuck out her tongue. She looked behind her to the corner. "Haruhi and Reika should be here soon. It's nice that I didn't have to cook lunch today. This taking-turns thing isn't so bad after all." She stretched her arms upward and yawned.

"What, so you could cram with all your free time?"

"Shhh, no one needs to know that." She held her right pointer finger to her lips.

"Oh Kiri, when will you learn?" Rei shook her head and closed her book.

"Oh my Ryuu-chan, I have _already_ learned. In fact, I just covered the Meiji Restoration!" Kiri sounded really happy. Her eyes glimmered with her sense of accomplishment. She turned to the door. "Maybe I should tell the guys what I learned! I'd be reviewing with them!"

"Sure you would. Keep telling yourself that." Rei looked to the door as well. "Ah, here they are. Time for lunch." She put all her materials back in her school bag, brushing any real and imaginary crumbs off of her desk.

"Goooood afternoon!" A girl with light brown and short bobbed hair carried two boxes wrapped with a pink fabric with blue polka dots. The other, a girl with shoulder length black hair, pulled two unoccupied desks near Rei together. Rei and Kiri moved their desks closer.

"So Haruhi, what did you make today?" Kiri asked, bouncing with energy. "I'm _starving_!"

"Fried rice with eggs and some leftover chicken." The girl with light brown hair said as she adjusted the desks into a square shape. Once she did that, she placed the two boxes neatly side by side. She took off the fabric and folded them into neat squares.

"Nitpick." The girl with the black hair joked.

"Come now, Reika. If your cooking was more edible, it'd be natural for you to be neat, too." Haruhi smiled.

"Ooh, she's got you, Reika! Anyway, itadakimasu!" Kiri speedily spoke and dug in into an onigiri and orange juice. The rest of the girls followed suit.

"I'm curious Kiri," Rei said as she took some rice and green beans into a separate small bowl, "you always eat with such gusto when Haruhi cooks. Do you really love Haruhi's food that much?" Rei noticed Haruhi shyly smiling, unwilling to make eye contact with either of them.

"What?! Is loving food such a crime?" Kiri retorted. Her voice was full of such alarm and energy. In other words, it was the exact opposite of Rei's calm and benign voice. "I hope you're not suggesting I'm a lesbian! I'm straight, you know!"

Haruhi and Reika burst out laughing. Rei laughed too, but it didn't have the same power as the other two. Kiri kept moving her glance from each of the girls and back again, merely observing them.

"Speaking of being straight…" Reika whispered. As if on instinct, all the girls leaned forward, eating their rice all the while. "Kiri, about that note…"

Kiri leaned back on her chair. She looked lax, crossing one leg over the other and drinking her orange juice as if it was wine and that she owned the entire place. She exhaled as she finished the rest of it. "Nope. Haven't found out who sent it. I have to meet the person tomorrow somewhere outside, I think? Don't remember. Left the note at home. If the person was serious, I don't want to deny the poor fella a response."

Rei looked earnestly at Kiri. "The person probably didn't want to found out ahead of time. He probably refused to put his name down so you wouldn't make judgments before you actually met him, whether it was for the first time or not."

Kiri waved the crushed juice box at her. "Yeah, yeah. What kind of a guy is this, anyway? He sends me a note two days ago, wanting to talk tomorrow. Is that normal?

"He's the really shy type?" Reika suggested.

"That plans far in advance so as to not back out later?" Haruhi added.

"Should we follow you or something? I mean, what if it's a prank, or a trap?" Rei added. She looked down, thinking to herself. She didn't notice Reika's blank stare and Kiri's narrowed eyes. Haruhi just looked repeatedly at Kiri and Rei, looked scared.

"Nah, don't think that's necessary…" Kiri said.

The group ate for a few more minutes in silence before Rei stood up. "Gochiso sama deshita. Excuse me. I'm going to go throw my trash." She carried the remains of her meal in her arms as she went out of the room, ignoring the overflowing trash can by the door.

と あ る 臨 時 の 人

"My god, Haruhi, how can you stand her sometimes?" Kiri's voice suddenly became icy. "'Should we follow you or something?' What the hell, I'm not two!"

Haruhi's face only became more worried. "It's not like she's trying to annoy you! She just cares for her friends, that's all! She always could be right in that it's just a prank. Rei's really nice. Different, but nice."

Kiri snickered. "Right. She cares for her friends." She leaned towards Haruhi. "I know you don't notice this, 'cause you two are- you know- not even in this class, but she pays attention to no one. If anyone, it's not me. It's the freaking teacher. And that's only _sometimes_. And you know what her grades are?" Haruhi opened her mouth, but Kiri went on. "A's. It's like she gets top marks without even _trying_. And she never bothers to help! She basically pokes fun at me all the time."

"I hope you realize that Rei jokes, too." Haruhi pleaded. "She's a really nice person once you get to know her."

"We can't _all_ be her roommate, Sei-chan. Surely even _she_ tries on your patience at times." Reika looked at Haruhi. "Admit it. I bet she's disconnected even when you're sleeping in the same room as her." Reika turned to Kiri. "I mean, I'm pretty sure she _is_ joking with you, Kiri, and she's insensitive for not recognizing your feelings and _you're_ an idiot for not even realizing she was joking in the first place. But…" Reika leaned back and looked to Haruhi again.

"Come on, you two! You've known her for about a year now, and you _still_ don't trust her!"

"She's a bit off, though, don't you think? Rei's not like most girls." Reika noted. "Like, she's never itching to use her power inside of class. Even though we all know that it's pointless; all the teachers have nullifying abilities and can see right through it. It's like…Rei passes through school as if she's normal. Like, as if she has no ability to start with." Kiri nodded. "I mean, we know a lot of people with abilities, right? Most people forget hers, and they only remember it when level testing comes around and we see how close she is to becoming a level 5."

"I bet she thinks we're all below her. We're all level 3s, right. I bet she thinks no one can understand her."

"I wouldn't be surprised if she felt that way, seeing how you two are!" Haruhi spat. Reika looked wondrously at her. Kiri continued with her icy glare. "Honestly!" Haruhi stood up. "Just because she spaces out at times and can't give you answers on her background- which, I MIGHT ADD, is BECAUSE SHE CAN'T REMEMBER ANYTHING- is NOT. HER. FAULT. If you're so inclined to think of her as poisonous, then why are you creating more poison by acting nice to her all the time!" Haruhi balled her fists, but when she saw a few faces looking at her oddly, she took her trash and ran out of the room. Reika and Kiri looked at her, shocked as they were, but didn't bother to stop her.

No one even noticed Rei standing near the door.

と あ る 臨 時 の 人

"I think it's going to rain today." Haruhi's desk overlooked her room's window. Rei was in Haruhi's room, reading on her bed. Rei was lying on her stomach, moving her legs as she flipped pages. "It's today. Kiri said it would happen in the evening. Like, in a couple of hours. It would be terrible if it rained, don't you think? The guy asked her to go to a park."

"Well isn't that sweet…" Rei trailed off, not paying attention to anything at that point. She had merely come into the room because she had nothing to do after her homework.

Haruhi turned to her, looking uncomfortable. "Aren't…Aren't you going to go follow her or something? I mean, we don't even know if this guy goes to our school. Your ability could come in handy…"

"I doubt Kiri couldn't hold her own. It's really dangerous messing with fire. Both literally and figuratively."

Haruhi twirled her mechanical pencil uncomfortable. "Y-yeah, I guess. But…"

Rei looked up at her. She raised her eyebrows. "You sound like you want someone to go stalk her and her admirer."

"W-well…"

"I'll go if you'll come." Rei said.

"Really, you will?" Haruhi breathed a sigh of relief. "Thanks Rei. I don't know, I just have a bad feeling about this."

"Isn't your ability invisibility?" Rei smiled. She stood up and stretched.

"Yeah, but I'm not that great with sneaking and turning other things invisible." Haruhi suddenly vanished. Rei looked down at the desk chair. "Anyway, I think it's at Hayami park. It's about 30 minutes away, so we'd need the subway. I'll stay invisible just in case. Let's go."

"You'll be able to stay invisible for the next two and a half hours?"

"I'm sure I can at least stay invisible for 24 hours. The question is if I'll be able to fool the heat sensors and never get accidentally caught by random people bumping into me. I'm still working on that, sadly…"

"In that case," Rei walked out of the room, "let's go."

と あ る 臨 時 の 人

"…Now that I think about it…What about Reika?" Rei questioned. She was standing on the subway, gripping a pole. She was getting odd stares from the people sitting down. Was she talking to air?

"I didn't tell her anything. We'll just have to do our own thing. And, if she's actually going to be there, we can join up." Haruhi whispered. Clearly she did not want to spook anyone or be deemed as crazy by strangers.

"Yeah."

_"Attention passengers. Due to mechanical problems with this train, we will stopping at the next station permanently. We are sorry for the inconvenience."_

Rei looked alarm. She was sure that Haruhi felt the same way. "But the next stop! We just got on! It's going to take us like 20 minutes if we walk, and longer if we wait for a train."

"This is definitely a problem! Do you think Kiri will be okay until then?"

Rei looked grim. "We can only hope."

と あ る 臨 時 の 人

Kiri wasn't sure what to wear, so she just wore a normal jeans skirt with knee length white leggings. She wore a striped blue and white long-sleeved shirt. Not that anyone would notice it under her similar-shaded blue jacket, but it calmed Kiri to know that she planned a little.

_Now, I don't want to seem too desperate or shy. But if I'm too aggressive and ask people if he's the person looking for me…No, no. I just have to stay here, on this bench, until something happens! _She sat up straighter and crossed her arms.

と あ る 臨 時 の 人

_How long have I been waiting?_ Kiri looked at her watch. Even though she had moved benches because of the downpour, her watch's screen still had drips on it. _By my calculations, I've been here for…twelve minutes. Well, it could be a lot worse._

"Masuga Kiri." It was a boy's voice. The voice contained no shyness, only a normalcy that Kiri recognized. She whipped her head around. She looked up to the face of a boy with dripping black hair, a kind smile, and an umbrella. Kiri noticed that a great portion of his black school uniform was soaked. His entire from was dark from the rain.

Kiri's face showed surprised. "Ryota-san? You…wrote…" Her mouth kept twitching into a smile. She looked away.

Ryota sat next to her, still smiling and holding out the umbrella. "Maybe." He said. Kiri wasn't looking at him, instead she was smiling to herself. "I feel bad for making you wait out in the rain. I guess I should've listened to the weather channel…"

"I guess so…"

"So…If you just...Because I….uh.." Ryota was stammering now.

Kiri raised her eyebrows. "That is some stammering."

"You never responded back…"

When Kiri finally turned to Ryota, he was looking away. "Well…" She started.

と あ る 臨 時 の 人

"Whas dis? A pre-tty lady all alone in the rain?" A voice slurred. Kiri's eyes opened. She had been lying back on the bench, her face to the stone celling shielding her from the rain. "Where's your boyfriend, miss?" The stench of alcohol made Kiri's nose wrinkle up.

"Ugh." She stood up and started to walk away, going into the rainstorm.

"Wait pretty lady!" The man grabbed her arm. Kiri looked in horror at his boney arms, his sleazy expression, and dirty blond hair.

"Get away from me!" She yelled. Her hand showed bursts of red.

"Yow!" The man drew his arm away. "You bitch!" Kiri started running. She could only assume that the stranger was doing the same.

The sidewalk seemed endless to her, and the rain only weighed her down. Kiri was in such a panic, she skidded on a puddle and fell. The black figure was only getting closer and closer. He was only a few meters away.

And then the rain became ice spears.

と あ る 臨 時 の 人

"I wouldn't move if I were you. I'd be willing to wager that the ice is faster than you _and_ whatever ability you have, if you're an ESPer, that is." Rei's voice was as cool as the rain. Haruhi was protectively hugging Kiri, who was huddling defensively into her. They were both glaring at the man. They was a circle encompassing them. There was only a slight sprinkle of rain where they were; everywhere else had no ice and a downpour of rain. Rei was several meters behind the man. He wasn't moving; there were too many ice daggers and spears poised only a couple of meters around him.

The man turned around and gave a dirty glare at Rei. She held her gaze steadily. The man turned around and took one single step forward.

He was immediately bashed with an army of spikes. He howled with pain, but Rei's arsenal was nowhere near complete. The man had been yelling for minute now. All the ice near him turned back into water and steam, drenching him. He was lying on the ground, unconscious.

"Is it just me, or does the air feel hotter?" Kiri whispered.

Haruhi didn't meet her glance. She still continued looking straight ahead. "The water could only become ice if the heat was taken away from it. Did you see the steam outside of us? The heat had to go somewhere. Are you okay?"

"It wasn't a prank. Someone actually came." Kiri didn't want to talk louder than a whisper. "I just stayed out for too long. It's almost evening. Look, the sky's so grey."

Haruhi's grip on Kiri got even tighter. Rei walked to them, walking on the grass to avoid the man. "Should I call the police?" Her voice was cold, but she was looking at Kiri, concerned.

"No, no. Let's just go. I'm exhausted." Said Kiri.

"So this was a prank the whole time." Rei sounded mad.

"No, Rei, you have it wrong." Haruhi stood up. Kiri did too, still leaning on Haruhi. "We have to go. Kiri said she scrapped her knee." Kiri didn't look good on the outside, either. Her bright blue jacket was caked with mud and dirty water.

"Fine. But I don't see why we can't call the police-"

"He'll probably still be here. Judgment will deal with him if they come across him, okay, Ryuu?" Haruhi said gently. She turned around, Kiri leaning on her. "Come, let's go."

と あ る 臨 時 の 人

The three were in Rei and Haruhi's room. Kiri and Haruhi had taken a shower, and Kiri was borrowing some of Haruhi's clothes. Kiri and Haruhi were drinking hot chocolate. Rei was in the shower.

There was a knock on the door. Haruhi went and opened it. It was a dishelved-haired Reika. "I can't believe you guys." She groaned, walking straight to the couch ahead. She sat on the three-seater sofa with Kiri. Haruhi sat in the middle, taking her drink off from the wooden coffee table and into her hands. "You guys made me go through Rei's hellfire. That's the last time I do such a test." Haruhi immediately jumped to get a cup of chocolate for Reika. She handed to her, and Reika drank half of it in one sipping.

"I told you Rei would care. I told you." Haruhi said lightly, sipping on her drink. "You and Kiri just _had_ to find out."

"God, Haruhi, Kiri, do you guys know how much getting stabbed by icicles several times hurt? It freaking hurt. I would rather have a period without medicine than get in the way of her."

Haruhi and Kiri shuddered. "Well," Haruhi said, "I hoped you two learned your lesson. Kiri, karma got you when your jacket got ruined." Kiri scowled in response. "And Reika, well…getting stabbed by icicles seems pretty explanatory."

"I'd say getting a jacket ruined isn't nearly as bad as my punishment."

"Hmph! Not if it was a present!"

Rei came out. She was drying her hair with a towel, her hair wild. "…Reika? What are you doing here? And anyway, Kiri, isn't curfew soon?" Reika and Kiri looked at each other in alarm. They each gulped down the rest of their drink.

"Thanks for the drink! 'K bye, gotta go!" They shouted, slamming the door shut.

"Shizuka-senpai might be lenient on them." Rei threw the towel into her room and started brushing her hair.

Haruhi had gazed at Rei indescribably. "So protective, yet so isolated…" She said to herself.

Rei looked at Haruhi. "Did you say something?"

Haruhi smiled and shook her head. "Nothing. Nothing at all."


	16. Omake II

A/N: So I lied about posting next in November. I felt like continuing a little after checking my chapters for grammar, okay? I was rereading a previous chapter to find something, and I realized I wrote "The crowd was crowded."...What the heck? Oh yeah, this is the last omake before the original storyline continues. Now, before you all accuse me for not knowing what to write next, I _planned_ it this way. Also, the Valshe cover of "Soundless Voice" is really good. Argh, I'm not confident in my ability to stay in past tense in this chapter. The story I've been working on for the past couple of weeks is in present. Oh well, I'll do a mega-edit of everything when this story ends.

Chapter 16: OMAKE II

"Thank you! Come again!" Rei's voice was oddly energetic and cheery. She handed a person a big white paper bag.

Croquette & Burger was busy as ever. Rei checked her watch; she wore it especially for her job. _6:30. No wonder why there's so many people. Dinner time._

"Ryuu-zaki-san!" A cashier appeared at her left, his soft yellow hair catching light. What struck Rei everytime she saw his face was his ice-blue eyes. They were stunningly attractive, and it took a lot of concentration not to stare into them.

"Hmm? Su-oh-san?" Rei closed her register. There wasn't anyone ordering anything, so she looked to him and started chatting. She quickly looked down after she met his glance, but kept on smiling.

"So, you're about to complete your first week here, huh?" He turned to her.

"Mhmm. Getting used to it here already." She turned her back to the register and stretched. "Even though I kinda got forced into this job, it's not bad. So long as I can keep up my studies, the extra pocket money isn't bad."

"Ah, youth." He smiled. "College isn't like that." Rei looked to him. She darted her gaze, avoiding his eyes again.

"You sound like you're not young. A freshman in college isn't _that_ old." She laughed.

Yuu narrowed his eyes. "Are you saying that I _am_ old?"

"Well, you weren't denying it a while ago!"

Yuu laughed. "Yeah, I guess so. But I am older than you," he started wagging his right pointer finger at her, "so I'm your senior and you have to listen to my advice. It can only benefit you."

Rei nodded studiously at him. "Yes, grandfather. I understand!"

A black-haired customer walked to her counter. "I'd like a…" His eyes scanned the menu above. Yuu looked at him patiently, despite Rei already handling the customer. "Chicken croquette with rice platter."

"Okay," Rei typed in the price on her register. "Anything else?"

"One medium sized coke, please. I'm eating here." The person looked to Rei and Yuu and looks elsewhere."

"Okay, it'll be 830 yen." The customer gave the money to Rei and she sent the order to the cooking staff behind her. The food came out steaming, and the customer took it to a table.

"So what were we talking about?" She asked Yuu.

"You called me a grandfather…" Yuu trailed off unhappily.

"Because grandfathers are known for their advice. Well, all old people are. What advice do you have?"

"…Hmmm…" Yuu contemplated. "Be strong and never forget."

"Never forget what?"

"Everything," Yuu said simply. "Your beginnings, your family, what you're living for, all those things." He casually shrugged his shoulders.

"But…" Rei wanted to argue back, but thought better of it. "…Okay."

"They're just important things. Even if you go to a boarding school and aren't with your family anymore, they are still important, ya know? They helped create you in more ways than one."

"Yeah…" Rei said. "They did, that's true." _…But…_ She couldn't help thinking, _I can't remember anything now. Who's to say that who I am currently is the same as who I was? Who can say that I haven't erased the workings of my past?_


	17. Chapter 17

A/N: Hi. Sorry guys, I've just been having a tough time lately. Nothing that I can't eventually handle. Here's a chapter. Also I just recently got Pokemon White 2. Now, let me tell you, there needs to be more hairoshipping (CherenxMei) on FF. Sequelshipping (HughxMei) is second-best. Maybe visorshipping (KyoheixMei) as an honorable mention. Moonringshipping (ColressxMei) is kinda sorta weird for SO many reasons (how the heck does Colress have a cresent moon shaped piece of blue hair floating off of his head? Is it even connected?), but it's like the honorable mention to the honorable mention category. I'm in that point in my Pokemon cycle where all my obsessiveness about Pokemon resurges. Can you tell?

Chapter 15

"It's been a while since she's come." It was dinner time now, and Yoshi was making stir-fry noddles, the occasional sizzling of the oil in the pan louder than her own voice. "I wonder why."

Yomi, Accelerator, and Last Order were all sitting at the dining table. Yomi had earlier said that she was glad to have the head seat; it was the farthest from the big pane window, which had been letting in drafts as of late. It was dark and foul as Accelerator's attitude outside, and everyone could hear the wind whistling when the stir fry's sizzling was softer than usual. A bored Accelerator sat next to a bouncing Last Order, who was moving her short legs up and down and up again as she eagerly awaited one of her favorite meals cooked by Yoshi.

"It's been two weeks since New Years." Yomi commented, her hand on her cheek. "Maybe she's been studying. There probably isn't anything suspicious with her being gone."

"But she didn't give us a warning. Doesn't Rei always seem to portray the type that would tell you important information the minute it was released?"

And to this Yoshi had no reply. "…..Well…." she started. "It's not like Accelerator had planned anything in advance. He just pulls out things on the fly. I mean, he's made her run around the park 15 times all because he was still half-asleep on the bench."

Accelerator stayed silent and scratched the fork against his bare plate, making Yomi cringe.

"Misaka Misaka knows that Rei will come back. Rei must have a reason for why she isn't here, Misaka Misaka says."

"Can you stop scratching your fork against the plate? It's irritating me, jan…plus, you're damaging a plate." Yomi added. "Do you want to pay for that too?"

"Dinner's ready." Yoshi put the pot of steaming noodles onto the center of the table. Just as she turned around to head back into the kitchen, she paused and looked to the door. Yomi, Accelerator, and Last Order, all paying attention now, listened with her.

_Tap, tap. _Two neat sounds on the door.

Yoshi made a beeline for the door. Last Order jumped out of her chair and ran towards the door, reaching it before Yoshi. "Could it be?! Misaka Misaka predicts!"

"Last Order, don't open the door without someone there!" Yoshi reprimanded as she slowly walked to the door.

Without heeding her, Last Order stood on her toes and undid the chain and lock and swung the door wide open. Immediately, Last Order recognized the embarassed girl with long brown hair and jumped into her arms.

"Rei-chan! Misaka Misaka calls out because she knew Rei-chan would come back!" Last Order cling on to Rei hard; Rei opened her mouth to say something, avoiding anyone's glance, and pry Last Order off at the same time. Failing at the latter, she carried Last Order as she took her shoes off. She lifted up her head to look at the bemused Yoshi.

"You're just in time for dinner, Rei-san. Do you plan to stay overnight?" Yoshi asked. Rei flinched as if Yoshi's kindness stung her.

"Well-uh…You see…." Rei put down Last Order and fumbled with her fingers. Then, almost knocking her head into Yoshi's stomach, she bowed. "I'm sorry for not telling all of you that I would not be coming! But all these things started happening! I got a job, schoolwork suddenly started piling, and then all my equipment started going haywire, and literally nothing seemed to be happening right! Like, I couldn't call you because the phone company would always seem to be repairing something or the other and I'm really really really really really-"

"Whoa whoa whoa take it easy-jan!" Yomi stood up. Rei stopped bowing and looked at her with a confused face. "Sure, secondary schoolwork is crazy. I can understand that. We're just slightly surprised that you never contacted us about it, but that's cleared up right now, too. Those phone companies, gah…Yoshi did you call them about the service plan this month?"

"I think you're getting a little too sidetracked….Come, Rei. Take off your coat. Have dinner with us. Accelerator can teach you something in the morning if you can stay." Yoshi gently guided Rei to the table.

"Hey now, you better not be skipping the subject!" Yomi called.

"Here, have some noodles."

"Oi!"

"Misaka Misaka missed you, Rei-chan…"

(Pokemon!SubjectBorderBecauseI'mTooLazyToFindTheKanjiForThe NormalBorder)

"It's so pretty…" Rei whispered as she and Accelerator walked onto the wide space of a different park. She looked up to the light flurry of snow and down to the snow clinging on her black knee-high boats and stylish pale overcoat- a Christmas gift from Yoshi and Yomi. She had refused the coat, but Accelerator glared at her for taking too much time to get out the door, so she hastily put it on to avoid another exercise that involved her tied up.

"Haven't you ever seen snow before? Academy City gets snow every year." Accelerator put both gloved hands in his coat pockets.

"Of course. But that still doesn't take away the excitement of seeing fresh snow falling from the sky each year. All snowflakes are different, you know."

"Right, right. Now, do you know why you're here?"

"….You…want to trap me in an ice castle so I'll die of hypothermia? Or I'll be forced to redirect heat before I die?"

"…"

"Sorry, Accelerator-sensei, but that was really the first thing that came to mind." Rei looked to Accelerator's irritated face.

"You have a very contradictory personality, don't you?" Accelerator said sarcastically. "Did you ever consider that you may have some bipolar issues?"

"Clearly all the rudeness and sass you think I have developed traces back to you." Rei smiled unflinchingly as Accelerator glared at her.

"You're here to manipulate the snow." Accelerator succinctly said.

"Excuse me, sensei, but there is an ulterior motive for being here, correct? Like you said in our first lesson, snow is a solid, and all solids have atoms that move and can be manipulated? Sure, snow is cold, but that can't stop it from being controlled."

"Right, but…just try it." Accelerator stepped back.

Rei looked to a patch of snow, willing it to move just like she did to the wind or the pencil case. It rose up just as fast as anything she moved did. As she opened her mouth to say her accomplishment, a huge chunk fell to the bottom. Her mouth stayed open.

"Even though this snow is wet, it's not completely moldable yet. Parts of it can still fall apart if the concentration isn't distributed across the uneven surface."

"So much of this is concentration and accuracy…" Rei trailed off, sounding slightly frustrated.

"Yeah. Well, you are a level 4. And on the boundary to level 5, too. It's less about skill basics at that point."

"You're right." Rei shook her head, as if getting her disappointment out of her. "I shouldn't complain. Is that all there is to it."

"Mmm, not quite. The beauty of vector change…" Accelerator lifted snow off the ground and clumped into a ball directly in front of Rei's eyes. "Is that there are many ways and things to manipulate…" Suddenly, the ball of snow turned to water, falling down and splashing at Rei's feet. "But let's just stick with lifting up snow without losing parts of it."

"Right!" Immediately, Rei tried to lift a patch of snow. It seemed like it was working, but as the wind howled, Rei covered her face and hear the sound of the snow falling on the ground.

"Whatever. There's time. You cold?"

Rei put her gloved hands to her numb cheeks and looked at him. "Will you ever teach me how to keep the heat in?"

"Yeah. Right after you build a castle of ice in this tundra of a park."

"Ahh! That's not fair sensei!"


	18. Chapter 18

A/N: "I'm in AL right now for an international camp and I can't sleep because the doors have to stay open and I hate light when I sleep. Augh. So. Hungry."- I wrote that as an A/N for this a bit ago. But I'm back home now to my fluffy bed and no lights while I sleep and warm, delicious food! Also the Pokemon obsession has died down (in case you were wondering).

Chapter 16

"Look, Sensei!" Rei's cheerfulness rang through the field. She beamed, putting a gloved hand on what appeared to be a giant chunk of snow. Her hair blew in the wind as she waited for Accelerator to turn around, but she didn't flinch. When Accelerator turned around, he showed no surprise.

That block of snow was a magnificent, larger-than-life castle of ice and snow stood in front of him. It was a simple design, one that people would see often in sandcastles in books and magazines. It had four simple and smooth columns and walls. There were no brick-and-cement lines. The tops of the walls had the typical rectangular-ridge style, and the tops of the columns had pointed stones. There was even a carving for the draw bridge.

Rei's hand patted the column to his right. "So, waddya think? Did I improve?" She had been out there for a total of 4 days: Saturday and Sunday of last week, and Saturday and Sunday of the current week. It was already past noon on that Sunday- 4 o'clock- but Rei was more energetic than she'd ever been. While Accelerator had been spacing out in other directions, Rei had poses a challenge upon herself: build a grand castle, built it quickly, and build it quietly. Finally, after so much error, she had completed her task for the most part- she had no time to include flags at the top.

"Was this so I'd teach you efficient thermal control?" Accelerator scanned the tops of the castle. He seemed neither impressed nor annoyed, his usual poker face admitting nothing.

"No..." Rei's smile fell a little. "I just wanted some praise. Can I get some? Pleaseeee sensei? You never say anything nice! And look!" She widens her arms in front of the castle. "It's huge! How many giant snow and ice castles have you seen in your life, much less built this fast and quiet?" Her eyes pleaded with him, but her smile was still as comical as ever.

"Look over there. In the distance." Accelerator pointed to her right.

Rei obeyed. All she saw was trees in the far off and bright light reflected from the vast expanse of snow. She squinted. "What am I supposed to be looking for-"

POFF!

The moment Rei turned back to Accelerator, a snowball hit her square in the face.

"You have the slightest possibility of receiving praise...if you can deflect all my snow attacks!" A smile grew on his face, and snow was lifted off the ground and formed into balls around him.

Rei's eyes grew wide in surprise, but she quickly regained composure. She put her arms in front of her, on guard to lift snow off the ground as a shield. "Bring it! I'm ready!...That one doesn't count, though, right?"

-  
"It's times like these where I wish I had Accelerator's ability or-at the very least- some way of keeping warm! Brrr!" Yomi shivered as she walked on the pathway with Yoshi and Last Order trailing behind.

"You do, in fact. You have the power of your paycheck. Your money. You know, to pay for a thicker coat." Yoshi said matter-of-factly as she pinched Yomi's thin, airy green jogging parka. The two were walking on the bikers and joggers path through a park.

"Misaka Misaka is beginning to think that Yomikawa doesn't like spending money...Misaka Misaka mutters." Last Order was trying to not slip on the icy path. "Ahhh!" She tried to cover her vulnerable face with her gloved hands as wind blew into her face. She was so light that the wind pushed her back half a meter. As if on cue, Yomi scooped her into her arms and continued walking.

"We should be getting close to the spot, right?" Yomi asked, squinting around. "The snow's so bright."

"They didn't specify where, only that they would be somewhere in the vicinity. It probably shouldn't matter, because no one with a straight mind would be out here in this weather, and they're probably tossing snowballs around." Yoshi scanned the area.

"There they are." She spoke, pointing in a direction. Yomi turned to see what Yoshi was staring at.

What they saw was more than snowballs being tossed.

There was so much to take in at the same time: Rei, her hair billowing in the breeze majestically as she and Accelerator exchanged volleys of what appeared to be ice spears, daggers, and snowballs at high speed while creating barriers that were fast enough to block an attack and hard enough to break it. Rei definitely seemed to be having a good time, zigzagging through the snow and occasionally using the wind to launch herself off the ground to get a more vulnerable angle of Accelerator, which never seemed to work. Accelerator rarely had to move, a reason that Yomi and Yoshi noted to themselves with respect. Neither of them seem to have gotten hit once-although Rei's face looked awfully wet- and Rei was smiling grandly. Even the tip of Acclerator's mouth was raised, but Yoshi and Yomi could only see that as they got closer unnoticed by the two.

"They're REALLY going at it." Yomi commented, lowering her skiglasses to get a better look.

"I doubt Accelerator's going all out, though…Wait, is that a giant ice castle?" Yoshi nodded and squinted.

"..I think so? Wow, Rei's been practicing! I'm impressed, jan! But…do you honestly think he ever would go all out?" Yomi turned to Yoshi.

"Probably not." She answered back succinctly.

"Would Rei-chan ever want that, Misaka Misaka is now wondering as she trails off in thought…"

"Come on, sensei!" Rei shouted as she catapulted into the air. She landed several meters behind Accelerator. Rei manipulated the snow dislodged from her impact with the ground and hurled the balls toward his back. Before Accelerator could even turn his head the slightest degree, the snowballs changed direction and whisked toward her.

Still running toward him, Rei swiftly moved her arms from her right side to the center, creating a side ramp of the snowballs. She slid on it, dauntlessly heading closer and closer toward Accelerator.

The ramp turned into a giant snowball, almost encapsulating Rei who jumped out just in time. She was a projectile in the air; this had to be the highest she had ever been in the air.

"Oh my, that would be an impressive jump to stick a landing to." Yoshi commented. Yomi just looked stunned.

Rei landed on her legs without flailing her arms and legs. She, however, skidded on the ice. She spun a few times. "Whoa!" Rei exclaimed, clearly having undercorrected how much she had to vector control. She fell backwards onto a puffy bank of snow. At first Rei appeared shocked. Accelerator calmly looked at her, although it seemed as if, any minute, he would tease, "There goes your chances at learning thermal control."

Rei burst out laughing, brushing snow off as she stood up. She swung her arms around, twirling in the majestic winterland. She even bent down to form a snowball by herself. She was beaming all the while, even when she threw the snowball at Accelerator with little power of ever possibly reaching him. Oblivious to Yomi, Yoshi, and Last Order, she was having fun. This complicated girl was having fun amidst school, introversion, and perfecting her ability.

As Rei was laughing, Accelerator looked away. It was almost as if it was too much, or as if he was already bored of seeing one person laugh, even though living with Last Order helped his tolerance. He saw Yomi, Yoshi, and Last Order in the nearby distance- close enough to see all the action but far enough that there was no possibility of being pelted with snow.

Last Order waved at him. "REI-CHAN, ACCELERATOR, MISAKA MISAKA CALLS OUT!" Rei stopped twirling to look at her. She waved back, still smiling.

"Mi-chan!" Rei called out and ran to her.

Accelerator watched her become smaller and smaller. He wasn't frowning, he wasn't smiling, but he followed her to Last Order nonetheless.


	19. Chapter 19

A/N: Philippines used to be part of the top 4 countries that read TARNN. Now she's 8th and I feel sad. Step it up, Philippines!

Chapter 17:

It was a feeling students at Toshiko knew all too well. Rei, specifically, drove herself to the extreme whenever possible. She would always overcome this feeling, usually through good luck and a healthy immune system. But, as she entered her dormroom and placed her bag on a chair, the waves of fatigue compelled her to get a glass of water and plop down into bed without doing homework or freshening up.

Rei was wearing herself out again. _Homework…I have…homework…First, a nap…then I should complete it…And study for the history test on Monday…_She sipped some water, trying to ignore the growing feeling of soreness in her throat. She snuggled into her thick comforter and closed her eyes. _My abilities have improved…But now I have homework…History…_

人

Rei couldn't tell what was what. When she opened her eyes groggily, she couldn't even process the fact that she had opened them. _Eyes? What are eyes? It's so hot….Why do I feel a coolness on my…head?_ Rei looked up to find a girl with light brown and bobbed hair looking at her with big brown eyes. The girl was frowning. _Wait a minute…_

"Haruhi? What's…wrong?" Rei grunted as she tried to sit up. She failed, and Haruhi helped lay her back on her pillow.

"You have a fever! It's 40 degrees! You're in really bad shape, Rei! I called the school nurse. It's probably just a really bad fever, but she'll come and take a look at you soon." Haruhi shook her head. "You shouldn't have gone to your tutor's house yesterday! Learning maths and sciences is nothing if you can't stay healthy."

_Math? Science? Did I ever tell her why I've been leaving for the weekends?_

"Haru-"

"You need to rest, Rei-chan. I've already added an extra blanket, and here," she held out her palm to show Rei two blue tablets. "swallow these, these should lower your fever. Chances are this is all you'll need. I'll get a nice, warm dinner for you soon. Let me go see if the forehead pad is cool enough." She swiftly walked off as soon as Rei swallowed the tabs.

Rei put her head in her hands and messied her hair in thought. This is bad, I can't do anything in this condition. _I can't study, do homework, and I can't train…_

"Haruhi," she croaked. Her voice had grown hoarse and weak while she slept.

"Here's the pad!" Haruhi rushed in. "Lie down." Rei obeyed and was rewarded with a soothing coolness- this time not from Haruhi- on her forehead.

"Haruhi, what time is it?" Rei got the sentence out.

"It's 9. So it's a little late for dinner, but you'll have some soup and bread after the doctor comes, okay?"

Rei lay on her side facing Haruhi. "When is the next level examination being held?"

Haruhi was taken aback. "The next level examination? That's more than a month away! Don't worry about that, you're sick, Rei-chan." She said softly.

"Right…" Rei agreed. "…Midterms are sooner. I should be focused on that." Rei closed her eyes. Focusing was taxing.

"Dear god, no! Don't focus on anything but resting! You're such a study-addict. Enjoy this rest. Your body needs it, Rei." As she said that, Haruhi stood up and walked to the door. "I'll wake you up when the nurse comes."

As Haruhi gently closed the door, Rei couldn't help but ignore her advice. All she could be focused on was the upcoming trials…

人

Rei was experiencing a delirious dream. The world was pitch black from all angles, and she was floating in it while wearing a frilly white dress. She wore a choker- one around her neck and one around her left ankle- with a white rose in it. There was light above her, filtering through the black sea, but she still could not see anything all around her.

As she looked around, light filtered from an indiscernible height above to her. A figure entered the light from the shadows.

She looked just like Rei, only she was wearing all black and the choker was around her right ankle: Dark Rei.

"You? Again?" Rei questioned.

"I can't leave you yet." Dark Rei responded.

"Why are you here? Am I just sick and I'm hallucinating right now?" Rei almost reached out to her with her right hand, but retracted immediately once she realized what she was doing.

"Oh, you're sick alright. Hallucinating, maybe. But I've been here for a while. Longer than you'd realize." Dark Rei mirrored Rei, reaching out her left hand. It was if there was a wall between them. Dark Rei held up her left hand at a halfway point.

Rei looked afraid. She lifted her right hand but flinched and put it back down. Dark Rei gave no expression. It was almost as if she was not judging her. She was just waiting for something. Rei, acting on Dark Rei's looks, reached out her hand and laced it with her hand. Dark Rei accommodated willingly.

"I should rest…But…This is my future…I don't have much in this world…School and my ability are my only ties to this world…"

I may have friends…and I may have acquaintances…But I have no parents…I don't have a real home…or a special person…or special people…I am held down to this world by weak strings. I drive myself into my work, hoping that either the strings get thicker or more strings are made. Doesn't anyone see that?" The moment Rei said that she recoiled. It was if she wasn't the one talking.

"I had a future, yet at the same time I didn't. My future was bright, so bright it had to be restrained. There had to be constant shade. And then some people came up with the idea of blocking the sun, the brightness. Too bright, they said. Some people wanted to have that brightness. Others just said it was too bright. No one was happy, really. No one had been happy with my future or my condition." Dark Rei echoed her own enigmatic thoughts. "Do you know how painful that was? Could you fathom that? An impossibly bright life darkening every second until it feels like you are walking blind? A world filled with shadows and pathetic filters of light? I had so much that it was lost easily. All of it."

"I don't understand you. Even if I didn't have my fever I still wouldn't be able to understand you." Rei responded. "What do you mean?" She held up her left hand and Dark Rei interlocked it with her right.

"I don't know." She said.

"What? What's that supposed to mean? I don't get you."

Rei woke up, her eyes widening. She felt like she was still in Dark Rei's presence, even though she had left the dream land.

_But I get you._


	20. Chapter 20

A/N: How do you test for your level proficiency when your ability is Vector Change? Heads up, next weekend I'll be gone for a math competition, so no chapters due to inability to type. This is a long chapter and I wasn't able to get it done on Sunday. Sorry. I've been working on it everyday.

Chapter 18:

Accelerator lay on one of the couches, lounging around to Yomi's annoyance. Last Order had fallen asleep. Everyone was aware of where she was. Accelerator saw to it.

"Tch, all you do is fight with people or lope around. It's a good thing you have something to do now that you're teaching Rei." She waved her rolled up magazine at him, she too sitting on a couch.

"Aren't you doing nothing too?" Accelerator asked rhetorically.

"At least I'm reading!"

"Ryuuzaki-san has given something for Accelerator to do, but really she gave us an even bigger problem." Yoshi walked to the single-seater and sat in it. "Her identity crisis has yet to be solved."

Yomi crossed her arms. "That girl is just one big contradiction. I'm not even sure she's a vector change ESPer!"

Yoshi nodded thoughtfully. "That I am not sure of either. What do you think, Accelerator? You're around her the most often."

"She can move non-moving and moving objects, is there any kind of ability out there that can do such a thing?" Accelerator said with his eyes closed. "It's like she has Vector Change but there's more to it."

"Do you think she has more than one ability?" Yomi posed. Silence. "Well, they say that's impossible, but I wouldn't put it past some scientists to try…" All three of them knew too well how far the science in Academy City could go to achieve a goal. Accelerator was a living example of it.

"We only have two pieces of evidence to suggest something is up with her ability: the database and the rope. The rope in itself is quite odd, as Rei neither has the character to cheat her way out of an exercise nor was there a knife anywhere in the premises." Yoshi speculated.

"It's possible to rip a rope like that with vector change, but, in Rei's case, it would have taken some time. Besides that wasn't the purpose of the exercise."

"Maybe you just bought really cheap rope. You brought in a pole from the trash inside the apartment, jan!"

"If the rope could tear like that just by a person being tied up in it, it wouldn't have made the trip from the store to home."

"Maybe we're putting too much emphasis on a piece of rope. Maybe all the other data makes sense and this piece is just an outlier."

"They categorized her as a freaking electric manipulater! Electric manipulater, jan! That's one terrible typo."

"That's true, they even said she was a level 1. She is most certainly not a level 1." Yoshi looked to Accelerator and then to Yomi. "Wait, Aiho, when's the next Toshiko school examination?"

"I don't know, do you think I stalk Toshiko kids in my free time?"

"You're part of Judgement. I thought, maybe…" Yoshi stood up and retrieved her primary casual laptop. "Let's see if Toshiko posts its event calendar…" She typed and clicked a couple of times. "Ah, here it is! The next examination is a little more than 5 weeks away." She looked up. "Do you think Rei is nervous about it?"

"Isn't that a long way away, though? I wouldn't have worried about it." Yomi dismissed the thought of worrying by waving her hand.

"Yeah, well you could have stood to be a better student when you were younger." Yoshi closed the laptop and put it on the computer. She looked again to Accelerator. "The culmination of her time with us would be tested then. Do you think, based on how she's improving now, she could make it to a Level 5?"

"Not really." He put it to her bluntly.

"…" Yoshi didn't know how to respond to that.

"Well, she was already at the edge, right? Maybe she has enough skills to get over the edge. And you've been making her run and do push-ups, so maybe's she gotten stronger to handle stronger forces?" Yomi threw something out.

Accelerator shrugged and sat up. "I dunno. She has a lot to learn."

"We have to keep in mind that that's coming from the number one ESPer in Academy City." Yoshi gently reminded the two of them.

"It's not like there's a lot of Level 5s out there. I just don't see her of ever being on the same spectrum as me."

"You're just a harsh teacher, you know that, jan? I think Rei-chan's better than you think, but nobody is ever going to know just how good until she's put into a tight spot. But obviously you're not going to try to kill her and vice versa-"

Accelerator snickered.

"But I'm sure she practices. She's very agile, more agile than you, I'd say after looking at the way you two fought in the snow. She is smaller than you."

"There's a bit of difference between agility and running around, though." Accelerator said back. "She's only going to get tired from running around. What's best is to stay where you are until necessary."

As if to break up the growing debate, a sound came from the door.

人

Rei was still feeling warm. It was the sort of warmth people got when they were recovering yet forced to go back to their daily lives. To her, it was a daily life of struggle, numerous tasks at one time, and internal conflict. She took heed to where she was going in the hall, a scarf-Haruhi insisted in place of a mask- thickly wrapped around her neck. She was careful not to bump into anyone. Her balance had not fully returned. Actually, none of her previous skills had returned to her at full force.

As she arrived at her room and placed her briefcase-like bag at her desk, someone hugged her from behind. "You're back, Rei!" Reika said.

Haruhi and Kiri appeared in front of them. "We'll make sure to get some warm lunch for you today. We'll try to run to the vendors before the crowd gets to them." Kiri said. Haruhi nodded.

"Oh…Hi-" Rei sneezed. "Thanks for that. It's going to take me a while to recover." 

"I'll say," Kiri noted. Rei sat down at her desk, but the others continued to talk standing up. "You've missed four days of school! Four! But we've been doing our best to get the homework and notes to you. Another thing Haruhi's seen to." She motioned towards the short light brown-bobbed girl. "You're very motherly, you know that?"

"Ehh?" Haruhi looked away, looking embarrassed.

"No, don't be so embarrassed; I finished the homework because of you, so thank you." Rei bowed her head to her. Haruhi just looked even more flustered.

"Y-you're welcome. It was no problem."

"I doubt that." Reika directed that to Kiri. "It's hard enough to teach, but imagine teaching a sick person! It must take forever to understand stuff."

"Yeah, but this is Rei we're talking about. She's probably already preparing for midterms."

"Ah, no! Don't remind her about that stuff!" Haruhi got in between them. "She's very stressed as it is, and the last thing she needs during recovery is stress. She could fall back sick. And," Haruhi crossed her arms and looked at Rei, "it's common sense not to want to fall sick even more through more worry."

Rei looked slightly sheepish. "I think I'm in the clear now, Haruhi. But okay, I'll try not to be overly anxious." Haruhi's shoulders noticeably relaxed. "But when I completely recover all promises are gone." Rei quickly added.

Haruhi's shoulders drooped even more. "Are you kidding me?" She said. "Fine, fine. But!" She stuck out her right pointer finger at her "You're not going to your tutor's house today! You have a lot to catch up at school, not to mention the rest I'm going to make you take!" Haruhi put her hands on her hips, her rule undeniable.

"You would make a good mom, Haruhi." Reika and Kiri nodded. Haruhi became embarrassed again.

"Speaking of motherly love, isn't Valentines' Day coming up?" Kiri asked when all of them sat down.

"Ooh, right. Are you going to make your new boyfriend chocolate, Kiri?" Reika mischievously grinned.

"So what if I am? You're just jealous because you can't even make ice." Kiri closed her eyes and stuck out her tongue at Reika.

"Well that's true," Reika conceded, "But maybe I'll join you to make chocolate for the heck of it. What about you, Sei-chan, what will you do?"

Haruhi, who had been very embarrassed earlier faintly blushed. "What? Me? For a guy?"

"No," Kiri snorted. "For your secret girly crush on Rei."

"No! You have everything all wrong!" Haruhi flustered, covering her face with her hands, probably blushing harder.

"That's enough, Kiri." Reika proded her elbow. She looked to Rei, who was still in a sick, recovering stupor to be really paying attention. "Hey Rei," Rei snapped her attention to her, as if she had been spacing out, "you have a tutor? I thought you went to cram school."

"I do go to cram school," she responded through her scarf, "I just haven't been going on Friday and the weekends recently because I have a tutor for..something outside of school."

"Oh, I see. What do you get tutored on?" The small gap in Rei's speech went noticed.

"…" Rei wasn't sure how to put it into words. _If I tell her that I'm being tutored for my ESPer ability, she'll easily discover my tutor. I don't want to let that happen._ But her mind was all in a flurry. She closed her eyes and rubbed her forehead.

"Are you okay, Rei?" Haruhi asked. She stopped talking with Kiri, causing her attention to be on her too.

"I…just have a slight headache." It wasn't a lie at all. She really did have one; trying to skirt around the direct truth about Accelerator-sensei would have been less trouble otherwise.

"Get well real soon," Reika said, "You'll need it if you want your grades to not tank."

"Yeah," Rei was grateful for the change in subject. "So, for the math homework…"

人

Of course there was a math pop quiz. Thankfully, the teacher took pity on Rei and told her to study outside of the room and that she could take it at a later date. Rei almost objected, but a slight wave of nausea came over her and she complied.

As she sat in the hall outside, her scarf shielded her from the occasional draft. She tried to focus on the numbers on the page, but they blurred together with the letters at times and she gave up, putting her head on her book and put her head against her knees.

"Ryuuzaki-san? Ryuuzaki? Are you okay?" A female voice was overhead. It took moments for Rei to come back to reality and look up. It was the teacher. Once the teacher realized she was awake, she said, "You can come back inside. It must be a little cold out here."

It took several seconds for her to stand, but she refused the teacher's help.

As she followed the teacher into the room, the room blurred and then readjusted itself immediately.

_Something tells me I can easily lapse back into illness again…_

人

Rei was blanketed on the couch, her Japanese history notebook and textbook in her lap and briefcase down near the side of the sofa. Haruhi walked over and placed a small bowl of chicken noodle soup on the coffee table to her. Rei looked at the clock on her phone. 5:43. Normally she would be preparing to leave now, but constant attention from Haruhi was preventing her from going out. As if knowing what Rei was thinking of, Haruhi gave her a knowing glance. "You're not leaving those blankets if I can help it."

"But I'm feeling so much better now!" And she was. Nothing was getting blurred. She wasn't dizzy, and the warm feeling was leaving her to her relief.

"You're going to get sick again if you keep pushing yourself." Haruhi was stern-voiced. "And, to help you stay indoors, I'm gonna stay here."

"How, exactly, do you plan to stop me?" Rei asked with a tone of innocence. "You can't stop me by being invisible. And, let's face it Haruhi, you didn't do too well during the physical examination."

"T-that's not the point! You're staying here and that's that. Dorm-manger doesn't want you going out for the weekend either. It would be a different story if it was for an hour or so, but you stay there for two nights and two-and-a-half days."

Rei frowned at her. "Fine." She got up from the covers. Alarmed, Haruhi sprang up. "…I'm just going to the bathroom." Haruhi still looked on guard.

Rei did go to the bathroom. But, after that, she went to her bedroom. She quietly closed the door and quickly putting her small items in the small bag she took with her every week to Accelerator's apartment. She hid it under her desk and went back to the sofa. Haruhi was still standing, looking at her warily. "Don't worry. I'm not going to suddenly make a run for it." She curled back up in the covers and started to read her textbook.

Haruhi sat down slowly and took out her notebook. She gave Rei the occasional glance, but it seemed as if she relaxed. Rei, on the other hand, was constantly focusing on Haruhi through her peripheral vision. She was telling the truth, she wasn't going to suddenly make a run for it. Suddenly meaning at that point in time, that is.

人

8:01. Dinner had already been eaten, but Haruhi was still on guard.

_I don't blame her_, Rei thought. _I still have plans to leave_. She kept scribbling on her scrap sheep of paper, too pent up to be focusing on schoolwork.

"I'm going to go to the bathroom. But I'll be quick so don't try leaving!" Haruhi backed away and ran to the bathroom.

As soon as she heard the bathroom door slam, Rei jumped up and put her ability to work. She tossed her books down on the couch. She pulled her longcoat toward her with her mind, allowing her to be put into it sleeve by sleeve. She dashed into the hall and looked at her room. Her bag came whizzing into her arms and she bolted toward the door, unlocking it as she arrived to it. Rei closed the door with her ability while pelting down the stairs to the street and train station under the lamp and hallway lights.

人  
"Argh! No!" Haruhi stamped her foot. She knew the moment Rei was not on the couch that she had left. "I had only spent like a minute and a half in there! She couldn't have been that fast in leaving!"

But she had been. Haruhi harrumphed down on the spot Rei had sat on. She kept on telling Rei not to go, but really Rei was right; she had no way of actually keeping her there.

"Maybe I should've asked Reika to change into the dormmistress." She grumbled to herself. She passed a glance at Rei's books on the table. She did a double take on a sheet on top of Rei's texts she held it. There were several scribbles on the paper and a note.

_Sorry Haruhi. I owe you one._

人

The train only jolted a few times en route to the area near Accelerator's apartment, but it made Rei feel slightly nauseous. Rei grabbed the bar near one entrance tightly, her skin very pale.

_No, I can't be falling sick again!_

As the train stopped, its brakes almost sent Rei flying despite her hold on the bar. If it wasn't for the kind man who grabbed her shoulder, she would have surely hit the seats on the other side.

"Ah, thank you." She said, turning to see her helper, but the crowd was thickening to get out.

人

All this walking was making Rei tired, as much as she was trying to deny it herself.

By the time she got to the door, she felt sleepy. She leaned her head on the door and just stood there.

_I'm actually starting to worry that I'll fall sick…_

She heard talking on the other side of the door. She couldn't make out anything, but she could hear Yoshi's gentle yet solid voice. She could hear Yomi's strong voice as well. She had trouble listening for Accelerator's voice, but she felt that he was still there.

_I hope they don't mind me intruding so late._ She stood upright and knocked on the door.

人

"It's probably Rei." Yoshi got up and headed for the door.

"She's late today." Yomi noted. "Maybe something else has been going on, like studying or something."

They were right, it was Rei. "Hel-CHOO!" Rei partly raised her hand before she sneezed.

"Bless you." Yoshi and Yomi said at the same time.

Rei sniffled. "Thank you. I've been a bit under the weather recently." She stood up taller. "But I'm able to continue learning, Accelerator-sensei!" She looked at him.

He looked at her looked up at the ceiling. "Yeah, I was really worried about that."

"He wasn't really," Yoshi closed the door.

"Mmn, he knows how hard-working you are." Yomi waved to her. "He just doesn't show it."

"Really?" Rei.

Yomi turned to Accelerator. "You could be better." Accelerator simply put.

"You certainly haven't seen better, though, right? I mean, Vector Change isn't a common ability." Yomi sighed.

"Actually, I have. I've seen _me_."

Rei yawned. "Excuse me," she said. "I'm sure I'll feel a bit better after a night's rest."

"Have you been sick from school, Rei-chan?" Yomi asked. "You certainly don't seem all perky."

"Yes, but I have been feeling better, so I came." Rei coughed into her sleeve. Knowing how to get water, she went into the kitchen.

Yoshi exchanged a glance with Yomi. "Are you sure you won't get sick again?"

Rei shook her head. "No. I'm perfectly capable of continuing training after some rest. I brought some medicine just in case, though."

Yoshi sat down and observed her. Accelerator seemed to be falling asleep on the couch. "Don't fall asleep on the couch, you have a bed." She sounded stern about it.

"Yeah, yeah. I'll go later."

"If you do not mind, I shall go to bed now." Rei stood by the kitchen waiting for a response.

"That's fine. Good night." Yoshi responded.

"Good night." Yomi added.

Rei still stood there. Her eyes moved to the sofa. "Good night, Accelerator-sensei."

"Night." He simply said again. She walked into the bathroom. The sound of running water could be heard from their spot.

"Sensei. You know, it just sounds weird when put with your name, jan." Yomi crossed her arms and smirked. "You're just a child."

"If I, Academy City's strongest ESPer, is just a child, I'd like to see what you'd call her."

"It's somewhat sad, though. None of us completely trust her yet, but she's gotten reasonably close with us. You occasionally call her a brat, but you usually leave that to describe Last Order." Yoshi noted. "You just call her 'her'. I expected you to come up with some witty name."

"If they're both brats then how the hell is anyone ever supposed to know who I'm talking about if they're always together?"

"I do have to give you credit, though. You're on high-alert with Rei, but you haven't really gotten super defensive between the two." Yomi said, not knowing what exactly went down the first time Rei and Accelerator met.

"That girl knows what's coming to her if she tries anything funny."

Yoshi smiled. "'That girl'? Well, that's an improvement."

人

"_Ryuuzaki Rei? Isn't she the vector change girl?" Two boys were chatting in a semi-clustered hallway. People were hustling to and fro on this busy day. It was an Ability Examination Day._

_"Yeah yeah. The level 4. You know the strongest ESPer in Academy City, right? Accelerator? They're the only two that have that ability!"_

_"Yeah, that doesn't sound like a common ability. How close is she to becoming like him?"_

"_Well, she's been really close to getting Level 5 the past few times, dunno about reaching the skills he has. We'll see how she does today."_

"_She really does seem knowledgeable and able, but I think she's too…Like, she's too frail or silent. Shy, kinda. She doesn't seem like a threat or someone with the guts to punch you, how can she get on that guy's level? I don't think she'll pass into 5 this time either, much less ever become like Accelerator."_

"_I agree. But hey, she's the closest to reaching 5 out of us. Maybe we can go see her examination if they've insulated the testing room well enough."_

"_They probably will let us see it."_

_Just then, a girl with long brown hair and chocolate-colored eyes ran to them. "Iwato-san, have you seen Haruhi?" She clutched a turquoise file to her chest._

"_Itani-san?" One of them answered her. "I think I saw her in Class 3A while I was passing by."_

"_Oh, thank you. Do you know if she is done testing?" The girl asked._

"_Uhh…I think she's still a 3." The other boy said. "We tested at the same time, and when she couldn't stay invisible any longer, Shana-sensei told her she basically didn't improve her time. Dunno about her making objects invisible, though…"_

"_Oh, thank you for the information." She politely dipped her head and sped off._

"_Think it's time for her to perform?"_

"_Rumor has it that it's going to be at 12…so in, like, 20 minutes."_

_"Cool. Let's go watch it when it happens. You know the room number, right? So what did you do over the weekend?..."_

人

Accelerator sighed. He was still on the couch. He didn't want to move, really.

"Stop sighing and head to bed." Yoshi said while sipping on a cup of coffee.

"It's only 9:30!"

"I'd rather you be tossing and turning in bed than sighing every 5 minutes."

Yomi was doing a sudoku puzzle. "Maybe you'd like to do a Sudoku puzzle?" She ripped out a page from her Sudoku pad and- in an attempt to get it to Accelerator- flung it onto his shins. She tossed him a pencil which landed on his chest.

"It's all just a bunch of numbers." He said, looking at the paper.

"Computers are basically 1s and 0s, you know, and you depend on those." Yomi fired. "Either do something or go to sleep. It's a boring night tonight. Nobody's out for Last Order, we've eaten dinner, and we have no plans."

"Next time we should go window shopping." Yoshi mused. "I haven't been shopping in a while…"

人

Rei's sickness escalated quickly. By the time she had brushed her teeth and dressed in pajamas, her whole body and forehead ached and felt hot. She crawled into the nearest bed.

_These sheets are oddly too thin…I want more warmth…_

Her mind couldn't stop wandering into her past failures with her ability. She remembered each and every one of the testing moments, but they were all basically the same.

人

_As Rei speed-walked through the hallways, more people began to notice her. They would take a pause in the middle of their conversations to give her a passing glance._

"_Is that her?"_

"_That's her, right?"_

"_Ryuuzaki Rei…"_

_Rei gave no heed and continued toward her destination. When she arrived at room 3A, she slowly walked in._

_Standing near the teacher's podium, a girl with light brown, short bobbed hair was talking to a girl with long-but way shorter than Rei's- black hair. Haruhi turned to the door as Rei walked in._

"_Rei-chan!" She walked to Rei, smiling. "Are you going to test soon?" The girl with black hair followed, but she was not smiling._

"_Un," Rei stiffly nodded. "At 12."_

"_Good luck, Rei-chan! I'll be rooting for you!"_

"_You always act so cutely, Sei-chan." The other girl commented._

_"Eh?!"_

"_Reika's kinda right, you know…" Rei trailed off. "But thank you, Haruhi."_

_Reika's watch beeped. "It's 11:53." She looked up at Rei. "You should be-" Rei nodded immediately, not waiting for Reika to finish her sentence and began to turn around to go._

"_Wait, Rei! Do you want us to come see and support you?" Haruhi spoke quickly._

_Rei didn't turn around. "I rather you do not," she spoke and walked away._

人

"I'm going to call it a night." Accelerator got up and stretched. He limbered to the bathroom.

Once he was done with his business, he walked across the hall to his dark bedroom. Not needing lights, he got into his thin sheets and slept on his side, looking at the window letting in lamplight and faint car sounds.

It wasn't long before he realized something was wrong with his bed. Focusing his eyes, he saw a bundle of something-sheets probably- resting on the other pillow. He tried to look closer.

Strands of long hair was coming out of this bundle less than a foot away from him. He saw a face.

Long hair. Rei was asleep in his bed.

"What the hell!" Accelerator immediately got out bed, almost falling out of bed in the process.

"Hmm?" Yoshi's voice appeared. The lights were turned on; Yoshi and Yomi were at the door. "Oh my." Was the only thing Yoshi said. She didn't look surprised, however.

"When I said I would prefer you to be tossing and turning in bed than in the living room, I didn't mean it like this, jan."

"Cut the shit and get the girl out of _my_ bed." Accelerator glared.

Yoshi and Yomi looked at her. Her breaths were heavy and sounded as if she was filled with mucus.

Yoshi walked to her and put the backside of her palm to Rei's forehead. "She's getting a fever."

"This is bad, jan. How is she going to get home? Do you think we'll need a doctor in the morning?"

"She said she brought medicine. Accelerator, go sleep in her room. It may be pink, but it's probably best you sleep there and not here. For several reasons."

"Yeah, whatever. I'm not sleeping with that brat in my bed."

Yomi smiled.

人

"_Ryuuzaki Rei, your level testing is about to begin. The first part of your exam will take place on this field. Step on the field when you are ready." A female computer-like voice blared on the speaker phones outside._

_Toshiko was a rich-kids school. Similar to Tokiwadai-only co-ed- academically gifted students were constantly pouring in and out. Many became successful through a profession if not through their abilities. And, of course, alumni tended to give "small" portions of their wealth to the school that catapulted them to greatness, as if the school didn't already receive sufficient funds from the city. This money was used to purchase facilities, like the multitude of sports fields surrounding the expansive campus. Located near the baseball field and tennis court was a 100-meter radius circle outline in orange. There was no grass; brown dirt and small pebbles appeared to be the material of this large patch._

_Rei knew better. Ever since became a level 3, she had realized that the ground was denser than it appeared. Very, very dense. She had yet to decipher what the material-or materials- were._

_She had changed clothes into a track suit. Her hair was tied back into a ponytail. Like usual, she had a poker face on, but seemed ready at the same time. Her eyes and mouth were firm._

_She crossed the orange line and glided to the black dot in the center of the circle. As she stood there, waiting for further directions, she could see people on the track field. Some were standing still. Some, she could tell, were looking at her. She scanned the ground. Faint green lines in the grass circled at intervals around the orange line; more circles had been sprayed in since the previous time._

_"You are to destroy the earth surrounding you. You may crumble it in any form-or lack of- as you see fit. Begin when you are ready. If you require or desire more trials than the given one, staff is on standby to rapidly reform the ground and can be signaled by raising your right arm."_

_Rei closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She put all her energy into her right leg and stomped._

_The change was instantaneous. The earth roared as Rei willed the vector to amplify in strength. The 100m-radius circle broke into rubble sequentially, the force traveling from her to the farthest possible edges it could manage. There was no possible way someone could saunter through this space as it currently was. Sharp ridges stuck out in some places, other parts just looked crushed and severely cracked, the energy too much for the earth to withstand._

_Rei had been doing this test for a couple of years near every few months or so. She was able to get a good idea of how she did before the speaker told her._

_She looked at the destruction. Her face paled._

人

"_Ryuuzaki Rei, you are about to begin the second and final stage of your ability testing. Once you are ready, please step into the center of the room and wait for further instructions." The school's intercom was now giving the instructions. A very large crowd was starting to gather at a near distance from the room. Rei was still in her track suit, looking calm and pale. She opened the door and began to walk inside, ignoring the fact that there were hurricane wind-proof windows near the door, allowing the crowd to see how she dealt with her upcoming adversity._

_She was currently in the school's wind tunnel room. Used by the engineering students for lectures and demonstrations, it was used for Rei's testing. The main fan that created winds for use in the wind tunnel was very large: it was basically one of the smaller faces of the square room. Opposite of the fan was an equally large blackboard with windows on the side of the door and strong materials such as concrete on the other long face. Why the staff thought it was okay to test the power of a vector change ESPer in the school instead of outside, and why they thought it was okay for students to congregate outside was a puzzle in itself. While the room was certainly durable, it had to be repaired to a degree everytime Rei was tested in it. It was probably not safe, and Rei knew that the staff had been debating on whether to make a new, separate facility for her. Then she kept receiving level 4 and she felt as if the subject had been dropped._

_This room was empty, its vastness clearly showing. Rei walked to another black dot in the center of the square and stood to face the giant fan. But, this time, there was a half meter-long side square encompassing it. "You will now direct the winds. Your body should not be blown by the winds. The test will end when you have been moved outside of the box in some form. The winds may or may not start slowly. The winds will begin in…" the fan started humming, first softly than near-deafening. "3…2…1"._

_Rei was rushed with a powerful-almost with hurricane potential-immediately. _Chiriii_, she reflected with not a hair displaced. She felt like people were murmuring outside._

_The winds were only getting stronger. With her reflection field in front of her, she began to round it out to include her sides. Pressure was building up inside of her to kept the reflections steady, but she could see cracks starting to appear in the hurricane-proof windows. People were looking wildly at each other._ Could this be it?! They looked like. This has happened before, but not this quickly, and the winds have yet to pick up speed!

_More and pressure was compounding. Rei had no idea what speed they were at now. She was continuously grimacing, her left eye nearly closed as she tried to steady herself. She could feel tuffs of her hair gentle blowing along with the wind. She was about to give at any moment._

No! I have to keep strong! _And she did just that, but her burst of strength only lasted for mere seconds as the wind was mercilessly getting stronger._

_She had no idea what was coming to her. One moment she was giving her all to reflect the wind, the next her back rammed into the chalk ledge on the blackboard across the room. She shrieked in pain, not expecting the winds to drive her that fast. She fell to her knees and face-first onto the floor. The winds stopped, the engine purring as it calmed down. She could hear the tinkling of pieces of glass falling from the windows. She felt different parts of the room slowly creak. She couldn't see any damage, but she knew it would be at least a week before any classes would take place there again. The murmurs outside were furiously gossiping. She knew how this was going to end._

_She tilted her face so she could see a couple of the blinding, metallic lights above. Her hair, for the most part, kept her face hidden. She was in too much pain to get up, so she just stayed there, her back supported and pained by the wall._

_Next came information she already knew. "Ryuuzaki Rei, current level 4 ESPer. Damage-radius from stage 1: 105 m. Maximum wind-speed reflected: 271 km per hour. Category: Level 4."_

_People outside were talking. That's all she could focus on now. She couldn't bear to look anywhere, so she let her hair cover her face and closed her eyes. A medic would come to her aid soon. But her? Her reflections had met wind in battle and lost. She had lost. Again._

"Ryuuzaki Rei, the up and coming vector change ESPer…"

"Still a level 4? That's a shame. I thought that maybe this time…"

"See, she still failed."

"She looked so cool, though…"

"She gave a good try. But she's still no legendary, like Tokiwadai's Ace."

"Ryuuzaki's not Accelerator, that's for sure."

"She didn't make level 5."

_She didn't. She didn't. Those words rang in Rei's ears. They rang deeply and loudly. Rei didn't want to get up and face them and the music of having the same ID card with a red 4 plastered on it. _

_Hot, wet tears streamed down her face as she stayed silent on the ground._


	21. Omake III

A/N: Yomi ships Rei and Accelerator, ahahaha. This omake focuses on Rei's daily training routine with Accelerator. Also, I fell sick right before the math competition and had to compete while sick. And then I had to take it easy the following week and a half because I wanted to keep doing my work without missing a day….And then I REALLY fell sick two weeks later so I never went back to writing! ACHOO! I must've caught Rei's illness! I have been gone for basically a month…I'm scared to look at my stats page…

OMAKE III

Rei had recovered the morning after. She was well enough to walk by herself to the train station. Of course, Yomi and Yoshi would have none of that; Accelerator and Last Order would walk with her until she reached her dorm.

"You were really sick last night, we're not taking any chances." Yomi was obstinate on the matter.

"I'm sorry for any trouble I caused." Rei did another head bow, which the four began to get used to and equate as one of her common gestures. "How bad was I?"

"You were delirious enough to sleep in the wrong bed, but that's the extent of your actions so you weren't an actually problem. But…your breathing did seem weird." Yoshi summarized, leaving out whose bed she slept in. "You seem to be talking and breathing fine now, though. But you really should get to a doctor if this continues. You shouldn't overstress yourself anymore now."

Once Accelerator and Last Order had dropped her off-this time with no passerbys questioning their relationship-Rei didn't come back until the next week.

人

Rei's phone beeped a polyphonic tune. Sleepily, she reached for her phone and pushed a button, not wanting to get out of bed. She looked at the screen. It was 8:03 AM on a Saturday morning. In a couple of minutes, she would have to go to the bathroom and get ready for breakfast.

She placed her phone on the other pillow and stretched out her arms. She admired the slight orange-turning-yellow light filtering through the white curtains in the guest bedroom.

The door glided open. A cowlick appeared at the entrance: Last Order.

"Good morning, Rei-chan! Misaka Misaka says!" Last Order climbed into bed and sat near Rei's knees.

"Good morning, Mi-chan. Did you sleep well?" Rei looked up at her, too tired to sit up just then. It was okay, she had a few minutes. Her voice sounded tired, but she knew that breakfast and a shower would fix that.

"Un, Misaka Misaka says with happiness! Misaka Misaka wonders out loud how Rei-chan slept."

Rei stretched and sat up. "Rei-chan slept fine and is ready to work hard today in preparation for her level examination." Rei responded in the third person and patted Last Order's head. Last Order looked content.

"Where's the brat?" Accelerator's voice could be heard in the hallway. He opened the door a crack to see Rei's hand hovering in the air above Last Order's head. He narrowed his eyes but said nothing and turned around. The door slowly swung to a close behind him.

Silence. Then, "Misaka Misaka has just noticed that your hair is very messy and Accelerator just saw that Misaka Misaka noticed."

"This isn't even close to the first time, so I give up." Rei tried to hand-comb her hair, stopping when she yawned. During the first few weekends, Last Order would come to her room in the morning, and Accelerator would always look in her dorm for her first. Rei, who would occasionally get the very bad bedhead due to her long hair, would become flustered-especially around her sensei- when someone saw her like that. The only exception was Last Order.

However, Rei soon became desensitized to it all, not even blinking when Yomi or Yoshi came in to greet her or complete a chore. Sometimes Rei would even greet Accelerator first, that's how okay she had gotten to the idea of a casual morning –something she didn't have with Haruhi. The two had their diverging schedules: early morning studying for Rei and making food and doing the chores for Haruhi. Haruhi would handle the cooking and half of the housekeeping-her chores done in the morning- as an agreement between them to never let Rei near the kitchen with the goal of making something edible. Of course, Rei began to learn, but by the time that happened they got used to their schedules.

"Okay, Misaka Misaka merely says. Let's go have breakfast! Misaka Misaka jumps out of the bed and runs out of the door describing her actions."

Rei followed suit and got ready for breakfast.

As Rei entered the main area of the apartment, Yoshi looked at her from the kitchen. Yoshi placed a cereal box on the fridge. "Good morning, Rei-chan. I just put your cereal on the table."

"Thank you," Rei sat down to eat. Accelerator was chewing on what appeared to be eggs across from her. He looked up her and went back to chewing.

Yomi was nowhere in sight. She had a job at AntiSkill to uphold, and she couldn't always stay at the apartment. Last Order was watching TV, fixated on the characters onscreen. Her breakfast was still being made.

"We're going to the railroad area again, right?" Rei asked.

"Yeah." He responded without looking up.

What Rei meant by "the railroad area" was one of the abandoned patches of trains and steel tracks in the railroad district. Accelerator's idea was to strengthen her ability to manipulate objects- the best way to do that was to practice her vector manipulation on dense objects. These places were littered with tracks and trains and piles of trash, making the environment perfectly varied. Best of all, it was abandoned, so no one would really ever care or find out, not that it really mattered to the strongest level 5 in Academy City and his rising level 5 student.

Yomi and Yoshi, for the most part, were okay with this form of teaching. Initially they had one concern in that Accelerator would constantly be going back to the district he was beaten by a level 0 in. Accelerator, of course, claimed not to give a fuck and Yomi and Yoshi had little to argue on after that.

人

"Okay, you know what to do. Three laps around this park. Then push ups…I'm thinking…20. Need to increase the number up." Accelerator strectched and sat down on a bench. The snow had been melting, making the ground slushy in some places. The terrain here, though, was smoother than that at the train district, so Rei's warmup would take place here.

"20? Schadenfreude-sensei…" Rei muttered as she started a light jog on the sidewalk around the square park.

"Yep, that's me." Accelerator closed his eyes. It was always so damn early, couldn't he just sleep in on the weekends for once? At the very least more than just the couple of times Rei didn't come because she felt sick or decided to study during New Years'?

He opened one eye to see Rei running her second lap around the park. She was improving, that was for sure. But she would never surpass him. Even if she had the talent and guts to try pulling something that off, he'd never let her. He was a prideful teacher. That or he was just better than everybody, which was pretty much the undeniable truth.

人

Shrill creaks and long groans filled the air. Steel tracks were turned into transverse waves; Rei sent one end of a track upward and sent that bump throughout the steel. She was just standing near it, her hands slightly in front of here but really not using her body. Her body wasn't really needed for vector manipulation. Accelerator was off to the side, leaning against a metal boxcart and looking onward.

After another ten minutes Rei went off near Accelerator and picked up her water bottle and drank from it. "Ah," she breathed out, refreshed. "My time's improving."

"Yeah, but the change to the steel could have been smoother." Accelerator looked at her. "Do you want to stay here for some more time or do you want to get lunch?"

"Yeah, let's go now. Are we meeting Mi-chan at the restaurant?" Rei turned and started walking.

During the first few practices, Rei kept the surprise of Accelerator asking her that question kindly, but it didn't take long for her to realize it was because afterwards he could accompany Last Order to lunch.

"Oi," Accelerator called out behind her. As Rei looked back, she saw that Accelerator didn't even move. He was staring at her, still leaning on that red metal traincar.

Then a steel beam gave out a cry and lurched forward, lurching forward to her face.

人

"Ahh, Acclerator-sensei. That wasn't very nice…" Rei shook her head. They just got off the subway to head to a sandwich café. Yomi recommended it, and offered to pick up Last Order so they could eat together without Yoshi, who apparently had errands to do again.

"How many times are you going to repeat that. And, now we're even. Gotta be prepared to, so shut up."

"Using the learning excuse for almost everything wears it out you know. Besides, I threw a can at you. And you retaliate with a steel beam? That's extreme…."

"Seems logical to me."

"Accelerator, Accelerator, Misaka Misaka cries out as she sprints toward him!" Last Order's voice shouted, gaining the attention of other pedestrians. She didn't slow down, colliding and hugging his knees at the same time.

"Hey, Brat, don't do that. You're gonna make me fall." He tried to pry her off of his shins.

Yomi was trailing far behind her, not even bothering to catch up to her. She had changed from her AntiSkill gear to her normal track suit.

"Hey there. Last Order, get off of Accelerator. He can't move when you're like that." Last Order visibly pouted but obeyed.

"Let's go in," Yomi motioned her head to the store.

人

"So how was practice?" Yomi asked, sipping on her hot chocolate. Rei and Last Order had ordered the same, but Accelerator had to be a rebel and order iced coke. Their sandwiches were on the way.

"Nothing out of the ordinary. Except, of course, Accelerator threw a steel beam at my face! Tell him he can't do that!"

Yomi's face gave an alarmed expression. She didn't know what to start talking about. The fact that Accelerator aimed- he probably didn't throw it- a beam at her or that she couldn't really say anything to stop him.

"Whatever," Accelerator said to nothing, sipping his coke.

"'Whatever' to you, mister! We're going to be practicing even more after this as punishment! My system scan is less than a month away!"

"Isn't it more punishing to you? I mean, we all know my training regiment…." He smirked to himself.

"Er-Whatever! I should just call you Schadenfreude-sensei from now on…" She mumbled and sipped on her drink."

"Here you are, do you four want anything else?" A waitress brought them their sandwiches and mac and cheese for Last Order.

"No thank you," Yomi spoke for the group. She chomped down on her sandwich. "Delicious! So, Rei, do you have confidence in your ability to become a level 5?"

"Nope." A blunt response. "And neither does Accelerator, but we'll see. I'll work hard for it!" Rei clenched her hand into a fist. "Of course, working hard doesn't necessary translate to success…"

"Oh come on! You're doing fine!"

人

Reika was on her way back from a relative's house. Geared up in a coat and scarf, her warm breath condensed into fog. Although she preferred anything but her own legs as transportation, the subway was busy today. It was lunch time, adding to the crowd.

_What a bother. It's less boring and faster on a subway. _She looked through store windows, passing mannequins and books and food.

As she passed one café, she saw four people sitting at a table. One adult in an odd bright green track suit, one child with light brown hair, and two teens- one gangly boy with white hair and the other a girl with long chocolate brown hair.

"Ah? Rei-chan?"


	22. Chapter 22

Chapter 19:

It was just another lunchtime break at Toshiko. Friends were eating with each other, some multitasking, talking, eating, and reading their textbooks at the same time. Midterms were just around the corner, happening the week before the system scan.

Rei was deeply engrossed in her physics textbook, putting rice in her mouth without looking away from the paragraphs. Haruhi, Kiri, and Reika were talking as per usual, but they couldn't stop giving Rei nervous glances.

"Uh, Rei?" Haruhi began. "Are you going to take a break from studying anytime soon? You've been like that for the past two and a half weeks…"

"You haven't said much this whole time." Reika added. Her eyes met with Rei's. Reika- Rei noticed- had had this glint in her eyes for some time now. Reika never said anything to her, though, except to talk more and worry less about grades. Rei, of course, never listened to any of them.

"Geez, Rei-chan, stop studying and do something fun a change." Kiri exhaled with her wrist supporting her chin.

"Eh? But I have to. I missed so much when I was sick." Rei fiddled with the metal mechanical pencil she was holding.

"That may be true, but you definitely should be ahead at this rate." Reasoned Reika.

"Actually no," Rei shook her head. As Rei fiddled and twirled the pencil, the top of it started to deform. It happened slowly, but as Rei rubbed her forehead with the other hand, the other grasped a pencil that was seemingly twisting itself and bending at the top and middle.

"Rei!" Haruhi gasped. "Your pencil's bending again!"

"Huh?" Oh, that's great." Rei looked to her pencil. She held it up to her eyes to observe the damage. "That was the last pencil from the set you got me. Sorry, Haruhi." She shook her head. "I'll have to go buy more pencils afterschool today. I'll go throw this away." She stood up and walked to the trash.

"How many?" Kiri breathed.

"I don't know," Reika responded. "That's happened to every single pencil she's been using lately. They've all snapped, bent, or twisted. Why's that happening? Does that have to do with her vector change?"

When Rei got back, she picked up her water bottle and went out of the room.

人

There was something about her that had changed. The way she walked seemed more dignified without Rei purposefully trying. Even though she was on her way to the nearest water fountain, she would attract sideways glances. Rei had a more serious air about her, which isolated her even more. But, slowly but surely she was silently regarding as the school's ace.

Rei sighed again as she approached the fountain and filled her bottle. _I'm so anxious with all the make-up work and the next test coming soon. I'm not going to do well if I don't remain calm. But I'm clearly not doing a good job at maintaining my stress level if all my pencils have been breaking. It takes a lot to keep other things I touch from deforming…I can't believe I have to focus on the objects I touch so they don't get deformed now._

As she capped her bottle her feet felt light. She didn't look down right away, looking puzzled, but as her feet began to float behind her she quickly realized what was going on.

"Ah!" Without thinking first she changed the vectors around her, crashing to the ground on her stomach.

_I should've thought that out more thoroughly…_Rei rubbed her smarting head. _Great, I try reflecting on my problems and I get a stomach flop on the concrete ground. Gravity, where have you been the past two weeks…I'll ask Accelerator-sensei…I don't know whether to be happy I have been defying the laws of physics or sad that I can never go back to taking gravity for granted again._

人

"Rei, there's a red splotch on your forehead. Did you fall?" Like usual, Haruhi looked concerned.

"You could say that." She sat down. "Now, back to studying…"

"God damn it, Rei…" Kiri growled.

人

"Yeah, that happens when you're inexperienced." Accelerator sipped on his coke. He was in the apartment with Rei. Yoshi was gone getting last-minute grocery deals and Yomi was out for Anti Skill. Last Order's eyes were fixated on the TV screen. All three were sitting on the same sofa. Last Order near one armchair and Rei near the other. Accelerator exhaled and put the drink on the table. He crossed both arms as an upside rest for his head. "I got used to it pretty fast."

"Eh," Rei said, ignoring the part where he called her inexperienced (again), "It's not gonna go away?"

Accelerator took another sip. "Nope. Deal with it."

"I guess I have no say in the matter…." Rei looked down at her hands. "Ne, Accelerator-sensei…"

"What?"

Rei looked at him, opened her mouth, closed it, and looked down again.

Accelerator shifted his glance to her. "Well? Spit it out."

"It's just that…" She swallowed, not looking up to him. "My system scan is coming up soon…"

"Yeah, and?"

"Well…I haven't really trained with others."

"Nothing we can do about that." Another sip.

"But…"

"Get to the point already! Jeez, you were always a direct brat."

"Fine then!" Rei clenched her fists and shut her eyes. "Please practice-fight with me!"


	23. Chapter 23

A_/_N: Does anybody know the answer to the following question: When you edit and re-upload a chapter of your story, does the updated date below the summary change? I would much appreciate an answer. I can't stop listening to a Len cover of Mr. Taxi. I'm serious.

Chapter 20:

_Stop haunting me. Stop smiling at me when I dream. Stop repeating words, what you say only confuses me. Stop those taunting words, why won't you leave me alone? What's your reason for staying here with me? Am I going insane? Stop being a burden to me. So far I have only taken one of your suggestions. And the answer to that question is..._

"That's funny," Accelerator continued to nonchalantly sip on his coke, "Like hell I would."

"But I don't mean a to-the-death kind of fight. I just wanted you to practice alongside me. You're always instructing me from the sides. Maybe a couple of times you've shown something, like when you made the cup fall or when we had that snowball fight…"

_I_ _really enjoyed that, sensei…Did you have fun, even if just a little? Did you lighten up in the slightest? _

"There's a different between an all-out fight and making a cup fall." Now Last Order was giving them nervous sideglances.

_Restraint? But what's the point of teaching if you refuse to go the farthest you can to help the student…Accelerator-sensei, why did agree to teaching me? Did you agree because it was an overall good thing to do, or…_

"But you formed icicles at me and you aimed a steel beam at my head!" Rei looked at him, although Accelerator was far more invested in the condensation on the glass he was holding.

_You can't be honest to anyone…_

"That's because I know you're going to respond back in time. It's not they would've actually hit you if you became a retard in the moment, anyway."

"What?! Can't you take your student a little more seriously?!" Now Last Order was giving full attention, her eyes slightly widened.

Accelerator looked at her. Without a word, he got close to her face. "You want me to take you seriously? Then become the strongest level 5 ESPer. Oh wait, _that's me_." Every word he said was practically a snarl. "There's nothing you can do to make me agree to fight you. It's either you stay alive and find another way to commit suicide or you die a pathetic level 4."

The tumbler to do the door sounded. The anger on Rei's face became evident, her teeth gritting hard.

"I'm back with some vegetables for dinn-" Yoshi said, carrying two heaping tote bags of groceries.

"OH SHUT UP you passive-aggressive excuse for a glass-of-iced-coke teacher! What's with that reason, you don't fight unless it's to go all out to kill? Frankly, I find that hard to believe coming from YOU." She started backing away. "Why won't you fight with me!? It's such a simple request!" She reached the door. "I'm going! You better enjoy eating that coke! That's right! I said eat! Good night!" She opened the door and closed it with more energy than needed to be polite.

"Although that should have been very serious, that closure sounded very silly, Misaka Misaka gives out her opinion in a tense and awkward atmosphere."

"Bitch." Accelerator barely spoke.

Yoshi took the grocery bags and started to organize them in the kitchen. "Do you want to explain what that was?" She said in a tone that was more commanding than it appeared.

"Rei-chan wants to practice-fight Accelerator, Misaka Misaka answers because Accelerator would have probably made this conversation difficult."

"You brat…"

"I see. And, Accelerator, you won't fight her because…"

"Because I'm out of her league. Go easy on someone? Ha, I don't know that feeling. If she wants restraint she should find a better sparring partner."

"You'd think that the number one ESPer in Academy City would have learnt restraint a while back…"

"What the hell of a request is that? I want you to have a serious fight with me, but I want it to be a practice one and it'd be nice if you actually didn't go all out." He put the glass on the table and put up his feet.

Yoshi sighed. "With your 'reasons' this argument should be very petty. But if you're worried that Rei could die, I think you should have more confidence in her and your restraint. If she were to fight you, she would put up a fight, a long fight, before going down because not only does she have your ability, she's a 4 bordering on 5. She's like Awaki only less insane, nicer, and probably stronger…okay, she's less like her than I thought I abolish that comparison." She looked up from her vegetables in thought of what she could actually compare to Rei. "Actually, I have nothing on that aspect."

"Well, they're both bitches so it doesn't matter. And I'm not worried at all. I'm not going to fight her, end of discussion."

"If you say so…You know, if Rei were to have asked that when we first met or any point other now, I most likely would have agreed. But she's been training for half a year now, and I don't think she's going to get permanently injured-or die- from a fight." Once finished with putting away the groceries, she headed toward the hall's bathroom. "You could always fight her after the system scan. There's still time to come around."

人

"Rei, are you okay?" Haruhi looked at her. Haruhi said that phrase all the time to her, so Kiri and Reika had gotten used to it and weren't nearly as concerned. "You seem very angry."

Rei had already gone through the entire 20-mechanical pencil she had bought the day before. In fact, she had broken all 20 before lunchtime. She had borrowed some of Haruhi's, Reika's, and Kiri's only to have all of those break before the hour was up. Giving up on notes, she just sat back in her seat and watched the teacher. She was just too mad at what happened the day before. Hopefully she would cool down in time. Getting mad right before midterms would probably hurt her grades, but she couldn't help it. Midterms were the next day and it didn't seem like she would cool down anytime soon.

"Now that you mention it, you do seem rather pissed off, Rei-chan…" Kiri folded her arms. "Someone giving you trouble. Or midterm stress? You know, it's really boring to just be worried about studies. Get some hobbies besides studying and your ability. I'm sure you could manage."

"You could say that…" Rei shook her head. "It's just…I've broken so many pencils recently." She brought out one of her smaller but still annoying problems.

"Maybe you're so stressed out that that's happening. But yeah, that would suck." Reika concurred. "Thankfully I don't have to worry about that. Even though I'm a shape-shifter, I haven't really gotten the ability parts down, so even if I were to change as you…" In that moment Reika's image blurred as she turned into a spitting image of Rei. "I wouldn't be the level 4 you." Reika-turned-Rei smiled a little and transformed.

"Ah you shouldn't have used your ability like that, Reika-chan!" Haruhi grew alarmed.

"Haru-chan, is it just me or are you always the hyperactive, worried one in our group? Ehe.." Kiri laughed a little.

人

The physics midterm was beginning. Rei, although mad, spent more time then she would like to admit trying to calm down. Trying in vain, Rei just had to focus on not breaking her pencils in addition to prevent her from floating out the window during the midterms in even more addition to the actual material on the final. She had no choice, though. This was only a temporary remedy. She would work this out all later.

As she took the test, Accelerator's words would occasionally flash in her mind, and it was at these points that Rei had to make sure her pencil didn't snap.

"_There's nothing you can do to make me agree to fight you. It's either you stay alive and find another way to commit suicide or you die a pathetic level 4."_

_I hate you, Accelerator-sensei. I hate you!_

And then Rei heard a low chuckle in her mind. Rei visibly facedesked in annoyance. Her problems just wouldn't magically disappear. A soft facedesk, but one that garnered a concerned look from the teacher.

_Silly Rei, you'll just work around it! You'll get what we want eventually, you resourceful child you!_

人

Girls were chattering in the locker room. Some were putting on their gym shirts and shorts. Others were putting on tracks suits or something of the sort. Other girls were still in their uniforms but stayed around to chat to their changing friends.

Rei faced her locker and unlocked the lock. Her face remained unchanging, ever determined, and put on her track suit. She reached further into the small locker and took out a plastic baggie. Inside the bag were several hairties. She took and tied her hair into a thin, long ponytail.

She definitely got some looks as she stiffly walked to the door.

As if I can be perfectly calm on this judgment day.

人

The day was colder than the days before. Rei shivered a little as she marched out to the dirt circle far away from the baseball field.

_Argh, stupid Accelerator-sensei. You were just teasing me about thermal control. Now I need that skill and I don't have it and I hate you. Now stop making me think about you before my system scan! This is an important day that I-by the way- never got to really practice with you!_

As she stepped onto that orange dot, she noticed a great deal more camouflaging rings. They had added fifteen more, more than they had ever added by Rei's memory. _Wow…Does this mean they have confidence in me to achieve level 5 status?_

"_Ryuuzaki Rei, your level testing is about to begin. The first part of your exam will take place on this field. Step on the field when you are ready."_

She took a deep breath and exhaled. She imagined the orange dot was Accelerator's face as she pounded her right foot on it.


	24. Chapter 24

A/N: Dear Mouse: Function properly. That is all.

Chapter 21:

The earth roared for the longest time. It wouldn't stop its uproar. This tumultuous sound made Rei wince, but her concentration to amplify her applied force to the ground trumped her concern for her hearing. The impact of her foot had sent shattered earth flying into her face and all about her. By this point the earth buckled constantly as if there was an earthquake. The world shook, shaking Rei's vision as well. But she could hear girls screaming in the distance and wondered why.

Once the earth hushed and the ground became still, Rei could see how devastating the damage actually was.

The force affected the ground violently. It was like all the times before, the earth broken and jagged-especially so near Rei's feet. There were small crevices in places, small enough that the area could be repaired but deep enough that, in combination with the uneven ground, would probably require Rei to use her ability to jump high into the air to get back to school safely. Unlike previous attempts, the cracks spread so far she couldn't see the true end of it.

But, what she could see, was that the kids testing near the track and baseball fields were slowly stepping back.

_It couldn't be…The force went out that far?!_

She looked back to see if the speaker would announce anything. It was very un-protocol like for it to do so, but this time was an exception above all the rest.

The speaker pole had crashed on the earth, the speaker smashed. The force's radius was huge this time that even the speaker fell to it.

Rei smiled a little, still in shock but mostly happy at the damage. _It's strange, I should be concerned that I kind of destroyed a great portion of my school's land, but hey, they must have been okay with it to put me here…And…this damage must be worthy of a level 5…Did Accelerator's really make me improve _that_ much?_

She turned and jumped in the air. With the force she put on the ground came and equal force from the ground on her. She strengthened this vector, launching herself in the air. She continued this trend, trying her level best to not land in a crevice.

She approached the baseball field and the small track area that only had small rectangular strips for running and teleportation testing near the school; she saw that the damage had in fact reached that far. Both girls and guys were looking shocked at the cracks vining up to them. A small part of the track-specifically one track had been completely covered with the cracks. A girl was on the ground with one hand massaging her foot and the other rubbing her forehead. _Did she trip on the cracks or something?_ Rei had concerned for her, but soon became enveloped in her own problem.

As she walked up to the people on the track strips, they regarded her wide eyes, awestruck, respectful, and somewhat hesitant to walk up to her. A crowd began to form around her. She regarded those on her left and right with a glance and continued to walk to the school. The crowd parted, letting her getting through. The silence transitioned into small whispers which climaxed to full blown, loud conversations and speculations of wonder. None were actually to her but rather about her.

"She did all of this."

"Sugoiiii!"

"Wow, that's strength…!"

"If that's not a level 5, I don't know what the hell is."

"Iwato-san…she's gotten way stronger."

"Y-yeah."

"Rei-chan, Rei-chan!" Somebody grabbed her left arm. Rei looked to her left to see a smiling Haruhi and a wide-eyed Reika and Kiri. "That was so impressive! I'm happy I had the time to see it!"

"Oi, I have to admit Rei, I wouldn't want to be close to you if you ever do something like that. Nothing personal, I just feel like that's a suicidal thing to do. You're turbine testing will still be in school though, right? I think we'll see you from the outside. I don't think that area of the school is a safe place to be, even if the principal said they remodeled it to be stronger." Kiri said as she crossed her arms. "Congrats on that improvement, you're a thousand steps closer to obtaining the level 5 ranking than us." Kiri gave a curt nod and walked away. Reika, slightly shocked, looked to Rei and back to Kiri repeatedly.

"Good job, Rei. We'll be waiting outside for you once you blow up the school." She gave a nod-less stiffly than Kiri- and ran to her side.

Rei looked to Haruhi. Haruhi patiently smiled. "We're all still level 3s, huh? It's okay, don't mind that. Just do your best. I'll be with them. Don't take what Kiri said personally, that's just her personality, you know? All ambition, but she tries. Think of it, like, 'You're so strong that I don't want to be in the blast radius!' kind of thing." She hugged her. "I'll always be rooting for you." She ran off and waved at her. "Good luck!"

Rei looked off to where her three friends once were. _"Congrats on that improvement, you're a thousand steps closer to obtaining the level 5 ranking than us." _Now that became another statement that was etched into her mind. _I'm sorry Kiri if you're disappointed. Your passive-aggression is warranted._ She tried to lower her head to get through the crowd of stares and excitement. _I'm not trying to show off. But…should I be focused on how far apart our ESPer aptitudes are…or should I be focusing on the large gap between mine and Accelerator's? There's always going to be someone better, we both should accept that, huh?_ She started climbing the ten steps to get inside. As she climbed, she realized that there was a girl dressed in black looking away from her. She wasn't budging from her position, but before Rei could even ask her to move, the girl turned around.

Rei was facing a mirror image of herself, it had to be Dark Rei. She had her arms crossed and an evil sneer on her face. "Congratulations. I'm proud of you, _Rei-chan_."

"Can I please get to the second part of my test without the hallucinations?" Rei thought out-loud, bringing her hand to her mouth as she realized that the "fans" surrounding her were regarding her with confusion.

Dark Rei batted a hand and descended the stairs. "Fine, fine. I was just congratulating you. You're practically a cinch in for level 5 now, though. That's great. Your goal has almost been achieved!"

人

"_Ryuuzaki Rei, you are about to begin the second and final stage of your ability testing. Once you are ready, please step into the center of the room and wait for further instructions."_

There was an abnormally large crowd outside. Like usual, all were frantically chatting with each other, more anxious than Rei was to see the near-future events unfold. _If this was a manga, I would have teardropped by now. Ever since I turned level 4 I would never have suggested anyone to come see my testing, especially now after what I did to the grounds outside. Do they really think they're shielded by the renovations? I thought the students in my school were smarter than this. _

Rei listened to the instructions of the speaker. _I wonder if I'll break this one too? I wonder if that's a sign that I'm sure to get level 5 this time?_ She fantasized a little.

_You will now direct the winds. Your body should not be blown by the winds. The test will end when you have been moved outside of the box in some form. The winds may or may not start slowly. The winds will begin in…" __The fan started humming, first softly than near-deafening.__ "3…2…1"._

The winds, just as all the other times as before, started strong and only got stronger. Rei tried counting the seconds to see just how long she would last overall. Of course, my counting system is not very good, but I'm not even tired and I've been here for 5 minutes. I wonder…they said I could never get out of this box. What if I redirected the winds?

As she thought that thought, her mind calculated the redirection that Accelerator was able to do automatically.

And, in that instant, the turbine blew up. In reality, the whole room broke- glass _and_ concrete- as the turbine broke and spit out flames. Rei shielded herself instinctively even though she had redirection in effect on all her sides.

Now people were screaming. Rei could feel the room tilt as it fully hit her that she didn't just break the room, she broke the entire section of the school.

The school was groaning and the walls were grumbling as the floor was giving way. Not wanting to stay any longer, Rei dashed to the wall that didn't have students on the other side, kicked some jagged bricks off, and jumped out.

Rei landed in grass next to another group of students. They were all excited. Some went off running for help. Everybody noticed her jump down, but no one paid her mind as their next task was to get everybody out.

Rei sensed Haruhi's presence before she even got out of the crowd. "Rei!" Instead of smiling, Haruhi looked concerned again. "You're okay, you're okay, right?" Haruhi stiffly held Rei's shoulders. Kiri and Reika followed, eying the building. That section had fallen apart by now, all the debris plummeting to the ground. No one fell down with the debris.

Rei observed the damage and felt very guilty. _Well, chances are the side winds that would have resulted from my reflection would've caused the room to be destroyed…but if people are hurt because I decided to do that…_ "No, Haruhi, _I_ did that. I redirected and amplified the winds back when I didn't have to. We should be helping in some way!"

"Teleporters, force shielders! Work together to bring people down here!" Kiri was already on that task, repeating rousing calls. Nearly the entire school had evacuated to that position by now. Many people followed Kiri's call and repeated it. Then, once some teleporters and force shielders found each other, paired up and tried to get into the school. Some kids were eventually brought out, many coughing and covered in dust. Some with cuts. Rei's heart lurched.

"Rei, it's not entirely your fault." Haruhi tried to comfort Rei, but this time the "entirely" prevented much comfort.

_Well, that was the wrong time to try something fun out of boredom, eh? Well, you're a level 5 now, congrats. There's no way they can tell you you're not. I'm so proud of you Rei. You've achieved what I've always wanted._This time Dark Rei did not appear as a hallucination.

"Okay, just bother me later!" She exclaimed.

"Rei, are you okay!? Who are you talking to?" Haruhi tried to pull Rei down. "Sit down. Just stay like this until something happens."

Something did happen 10 later. Rei wasn't sure how many people were watching her outside to begin with, but she did know that the amount of people being rescued was a small percent of those that were there. Her heart sank even further. "Rei, we have some of the best medics in Academy City? Remember all those times your spine got damaged from previous turbine tests? If they could fix your spine as good as new, and if people are actually hurt, they'll recover fast. Now, stop worrying."

Rei shrugged off Haruhi. "No, I should go back." She ran towards the wreckage, her redirection "turned on".

"Wai-" Before she could hear the rest of Haruhi's refusal she had taken off, jumping into the debris. Nothing could come in contact with her, and she made sure to give tiny air boosts to her feet to places she had to walk over that had no more flooring. But, as she scavenged the place, singed and almost crushed inwards, she couldn't find a single person.

Did anyone burn in this? Oh god, if anyone got burned in this, I'd be a murderer. She looked around even more, trying to go into the ground floor to look some more. She lost track of time, but the fire alarms were still on and she could hear that assistance from the city had arrived outside. She walked through the rubble, some of which was still burning on the ground floor into the undamaged parts of school. Here she saw some stragglers.

She saw five stragglers. All of them were limping. She helped one boy who was just about to collapse. As she bent down to catch the boy, four firefighters appeared into to view to help the remaining four. A fifth took the boy into his arms and ran toward the entrance. Rei followed suit, hoping these were the last people.

人

Yoshi was watching TV. She had fixed herself a cup of tea. Having drunk all of it, she just sat on the one-seater and placidly watched TV. Last Order had fallen asleep on the three-seater. Accelerator was out for the nearest convenience store. There was breaking news, and it wouldn't stop repeating.

Yomi unlocked the door and entered, finished with her AntiSkill duties for the day. She held a plastic bag filled with something. "Hey, have you seen the news today?"

"Yeah, the TV has been on all day. It's been showing only that the whole day." Yoshi took the remote and increased the volume.

"_Breaking News, a new level 5 ESPer has been produced. Ryuuzaki Rei, a student at Toshiko Middle School, one of the most prestigious co-ed, private schools in Academy City, has achieved level 5 status with her ability, vector change. Just today she had achieved a blast radius of more than 300 meters just by stomping her foot and deflected winds that challenged the speed of sound three times over. The first part of her test was to stomp her foot, how much damage she could send throughout the dense earth would be shown thrown the radius that energy has traveled. However, the school did not anticipate making the ground denser outside of the 120m radius circle it already had- 20m more than the last system scan. She achieved a 371m radius. This is still very impressive, but her skills passed into the deadly range when she deflected winds going at more than three times the speed of sound. This test was poorly chosen to be held in the school with students allowed to watch from outside the room. Ryuuzaki's objective was to stay in a small red box despite winds pushing her back. However, when Ryuuzaki deflected winds of more than 1020.87 meters per second the turbine exploded and the entire wing began to collapse on itself. Several dozen students were injured. Thankfully there have been no serious injuries, all are being seen at Seijuu Hospital, a mere three minutes from Toshiko, and no deaths have been reported. We congratulate Ms. Ryuuzaki Rei for obtaining this position, now held by 8 ESPers out of Academy City's population of over 1.8 million. Her position among these 7 others has yet to be determined. There will be another test for her to see her full potential- this time in a safer environment for both her and others- to determine this position, but let's now turn to the panel of scientists that pose some opinions on where she ranks. Ms. Ryuuzaki Rei has politely declined commenting."_

Pictures of Toshiko's destroyed wing and Rei transitioned into three scientists discussing the recent development of an 8th level 5.

"_I feel she will either get placed as 8__th__ or somewhere near the top, maybe rivaling the Railgun for third place…" One balding scientist began. "She's new, so she might have to work from the ground up in the rankings. However, she has the same ability as our strongest ESPer, so chances are she will be placed near the top…"_

"How do you think Accelerator would have reacted? Surely they're playing this footage and report everywhere, even in the convenience store." Yomi asked, taking off her shoes and putting the bag on the table. She lied down on the loveseat, looking content from not having her job at the present moment.

"He probably would've said, 'Wow, it's about damn time. I almost think you'd have never made it. But keep in mind, I'm Academy City's number 1 ESPer'." Yoshi tried to mimic his voice.

"That actually might happen." Yomi laughed.

人

Everything going on in the convenience store was either at a standstill or moving slowly. Even the female cashier's eyes were trained on the small hanging TV in the corner.

"Oi, are you going to ring me up or what?" A tall, thin boy with white hair spoke rudely.

"A-ah, sorry mister, excuse me." She hastily began scanning his drinks. As she did such, Accelerator looked up to the screen. A burning school was onscreen with a female newscaster talking.

"_Breaking News, a new level 5 ESPer has been produced. Ryuuzaki Rei…"_

_Goddamn, that brat did it…_

人

"Today was a bad day to post the midterm results, huh?" Haruhi said. She nervously chuckled. The group, along with the rest of the students and staff, were told that school was canceled until the building would be repaired. Haruhi, Kiri, Reika, and Rei were all at a café, eating away the events of the day. It took them some time to find an okay café- even though Rei told the reporters and staff that questioned her if she was okay that she did deflected the winds back, they skirted around that slightly in their news broadcast. Rei found it unbearable to sit in a restaurant with a TV or radio going on about the recent development, and eventually had to settle for a table the farthest away from a radio. Rei could feel stares and whispers directed at her- even though she had her back to them. She was happy, yes, but the joy of fame was shortlived. Now she felt like everyone would gossip and conspire against here.

"We checked them while you were out destroying the baseball field. You got first in physics and made the top 10 in everything else. So I guess you've been having a good day." Reika smiled.

Rei put her hands in her face. "Those midterms were a nightmare…I had to try so hard no to break my pencils or float."

"Did you say float?" Kiri looked at her quizzically.

"Nevermind that."

"So, what are you going to do now that you're a level 5?" Kiri said. It was the same question that reporters asked her, but she felt too guilty to bask in her fame.

"I don't know, school will be over in a couple of months. I guess I won't study tonight in celebration? I mean, nothing's really changed. Except how people view me, I guess. What do level 5s do once they become level 5s?"

"Thank god, she's stopped study-binging." Kiri muttered.

"I don't know, their actions remain pretty underground." Reika responded.

"Does this mean you won't be seeing your tutor anymore, Rei?" Haruhi posed the question.

"….I'll probably go a couple more times. But I don't really have to anymore, right?" She put her head down in thought.

_That's right, I only requested Accelerator to teach me until I reached level 5 status. Now that I've done it, I should cut off visiting them every weekend? Her heart panged at the thought. I'll never have a reason to visit them, and I'll just go back to studying and my old friends. I wonder if Mi-chan would miss me? I wonder if Ac-_ She stopped herself in thought. _No, probably not, and I'm still mad at him for not fighting with…wait, I'm fighting with him for not fighting with me…Please, Accelerator, let me try ability in battle with yours, even if I lose. Small injuries don't matter to me. My life's pretty bland, but it got a little less bland with you all. I'll leaving you all soon enough, so just grant me this._

人

"That brat actually got to level 5." Accelerator was putting his cans away. "So she won't be coming here anymore, probably."

"Ah ah ah, you're forgetting the part where you're fighting her." Yomi crossed her arms and leaned against the sink. "Don't think she hasn't forgotten about that."

"Fuck that. I never made that kind of condition where if she became level 5 I'd fight her. And, anyway, she'll always be seen as a scrawny, pathetic level 4 to me."

"You're like a very rude parent reflecting on his child who's actually becoming an adult." Yomi said. "You have nothing to fear…Oh. I just realized something. Now that Rei's a level 5…"

"Now that Rei's a level 5, won't she have no reason to come here anymore? She'll stop coming, won't you want to grant her the parting gift of a fight, as odd as that sounds?" Yoshi questioned.

Accelerator sighed with drab. He sat down on a coach. "You know, when I first met her, the brat thought she was a level 5 judging by her AIM field. The other brat said it was because she was so close to becoming level 5, but it makes you wonder…" His mouth twitched. "If she fights for an extensive period, would she let her guard down and reveal something else? If so, I just might fight her. So will you stop persuading me?"

There was a knock at the door.

"Oh, it's probably her." Yoshi got up.

"Ryuuzaki Rei, who are you? Should you be existing?" Accelerator began to smile to himself. "This is our last chance to find out…"


End file.
